The Adventures of Albus, Scorpius and Rose
by Jennifer Apple
Summary: After promising to keep an eye on the Potter-boy, Scorpius is determined to be Albus's friend. New dangers at Hogwarts have rekindled the old curiosity in the Potter-Weasley blood, and Scorpius finds himself joining Rose and Albus in a new adventure.
1. The Sorting

**Chapter 1: The Sorting**

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><p>Albus stood, shivering in the middle of the group. The first years all around him were chattering loudly, and nervously. The reaction to his appearance at Hogwarts had been expected. It had first started on the platform; everybody around him had pointed and stared. Then on the train, people had walked past his compartment and gazed through the pane of glass. Some people had even walked past three times, just to look at the 'Chosen One's son. Even now, Albus felt the prickle on the back of his neck to tell him that someone was whispering his name, and pointing in his direction. He felt himself go scarlet. He turned to his cousin, Rosie, who was standing next to him, determined to find something to say.<p>

But before he could open his mouth, a tap on his shoulder caused him to turn. A small pale boy was looking eagerly at him with great grey orbs for eyes. He was about Albus's height, with white-blonde hair and a pointed chin.

"You're Albus Potter, aren't you?" he asked, and without waiting for an answer, he launched into a small speech, "I'm Scorpius Malfoy, I think our fathers used to know each other at school. I've been told that I have to make an effort to be nice to you, so I thought I'd say hello." He finished at a rush and looked expectantly at Albus for a reply.

"Err… hi?" Albus said. The name Scorpius rang a bell in the back of his mind.

"I'm Rose," she said, in a loud voice. Rose wasn't used to being ignored, and sounded quite disgruntled that the blonde boy wasn't paying her any attention.

"Do you know what house you're going to be in? My whole family has been in Slytherin, but I think I'd like to break the rules. I might make a good Ravenclaw or something, but I don't think my father would be too pleased. He wants me to be in Slytherin," Scorpius said quickly. Albus wondered, with a small smile, whether Scorpius always spoke this fast.

"I don't know what house I'm going to be in," Albus said. His dad's kind words had consoled him on the platform, but now the old worry doused the excitement he had felt on the train. What if he was in Slytherin? He supposed it wouldn't be so bad, and if he was put into Slytherin, at least he'd have this boy to keep him company.

"Well I want to be in Gryffindor," Rose said, in that unnaturally loud voice, "but I don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad. That's supposed to be for the brainy ones, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Scorpius said quickly, sparing Rose a glance. His gaze reverted back to Albus once more, waiting for him to say something. _This boy may be quite nice_, Albus thought, _but he does stare a lot_. _Well, _he thought, looking around at the crowd, _they all seem to stare a lot._

Albus was saved, however, from trying to find something to say, as at that moment, a familiar face entered the room. Neville Longbottom, a family friend, was standing in the doorway. He was a tall man, with deep red robes and a velvet wizard's hat perched upon his brown hair. He stepped forward into the room and instantly most of the crowd fell silent. His kind brown eyes searched the crowd, and his round face lit up in a huge smile when he saw Albus and Rose. Rose lifted up her hand to wave, but Albus pulled it down. This wasn't the time, he felt.

"The first years, Professor Longbottom," said Hagrid. Albus watched the huge man nod towards Neville and leave the room. He supposed that the girls next to him were right to look alarmed. Even he, who had known Hagrid since he was a small boy, was still startled at the sheer size of him. At least the height two of him, or three of Rose, he towered over most crowds. As he left, he gave a thumbs up to Albus and Rose. Albus felt the corners of his mouth turn up briefly in a smile as a sign of farewell, but they fell quickly. He certainly did not feel like smiling.

Neville pulled the door through which he had entered wide, and moved into a grand entrance hall. Albus felt his mouth fall open in shock; _you could fit five of my house in here,_ he thought in amazement. He saw Rose's sky blue eyes wide from shock at the grandeur of the place. The flames from the torches on the walls danced and cast a flickering light on the nervous first years, as they followed Neville at a trot across the room. They turned into a small, empty chamber off the grand hall, and crowded in. The party came to a stop and Neville turned to them.

"I am Professor Longbottom, Deputy Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," he said, his voice ringing out over the crowd. Everybody fell into a nervous silence. "Welcome to Hogwarts," Professor Longbottom continued, "you shall soon be joining the start of term feast. However before we begin, you must be sorted into your houses: Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, Gryffindor or Slytherin." Those last two words echoed ever more strongly in Albus's mind.

_Gryffindor. Slytherin._

"Your house," Neville said, "will be your family for the next seven years you will be spending at Hogwarts. You will have lessons with your house, sleep in your house dormitories and spend free time in your house common room. During your time at Hogwarts, good behavior will earn points for your house, and bad behavior will have points taken from you. At the end of the year, the house cup is awarded to the house with the most points." Neville looked around at the nervous faces, and winked.

"The sorting ceremony will take place in a few minutes," Professor Longbottom said, surveying the crowd with a small grin, "Please wait quietly for my return," and left the room without another word.

More loud, nervous chatter broke out all around him as soon when the door slammed shut. Albus looked apprehensively at Rose, who looked like she was going to faint.

"He seems okay, doesn't he?" Scorpius said, gesturing towards the door. Albus nodded in agreement. He would have told Scorpius how nice Professor Longbottom was, and how his mother insisted he came round for tea every month, and how he used to be an Auror with his dad, but he felt like if he opened his mouth, he might be sick.

"What do you think the sorting ceremony is?" Rose asked Scorpius. Rose still looked pale and clammy, but in the few seconds after Professor Longbottom had gone, she had regained some of her colour.

"Well, I do know, but I don't want to spoil the surprise," Scorpius said with a grin in Albus's direction,

"Does it hurt?" Rose asked. Albus cringed in embarrassment for Rose's sake, but listened hard to Scorpius's reply.

"Oh God, no," Scorpius laughed, "don't worry." For the first time it seemed, he really looked at Rose. Scorpius's cheeks went slightly pink as he looked at Rose's big blue eyes and frizzy red hair.

"What?" she asked, glaring at Scorpius.

"Nothing, nothing," he said, and cast around for something to say. When he failed to find a conversation point, he asked what surely must be bothering him. "Are you a Weasley?"

"Yes, so?" she asked, the defiant tone back in her voice.

Scorpius gulped, and didn't reply.

It appeared he was saved from the scorching look Rose was giving him, however, as Professor Longbottom returned. He was carrying a list, a stool, and what appeared to be an old ratty piece of cloth.

"Follow me," he said in a mysterious voice, and turned from the room. They trotted after him, in silence. All were nervous about what was to come. Albus's legs felt like they'd turned to jelly. They walked across the entrance hall, and through a pair of double doors. They had entered the great hall.

Rose, who was behind Albus, gasped. Thousands of candles floated over five tables, casting the room in their golden light. Looking up, Albus saw the ceiling was pitch black, just like the sky outside. The four house tables were packed with students, and the high table at the end of the room was filled with professors, all wearing splendid robes. It was exactly how Albus had imagined it. James had not been lying when he said that it was the most fantastic room in the entire world.

Professor Longbottom led the first years towards the table where the teachers were sitting, and they formed a line, facing the school. The pupils' golden-lit faces were staring up at them. Albus searched the faces of the students on the far left table, and saw James waving frantically at him. Again, Albus felt the corners of his mouth turn up into a smile that did not reach his eyes.

The stool that Professor Longbottom was holding made a huge clunk as it was set on the floor, and Albus's eyes snapped onto it. Professor Longbottom placed the rag on the stool, and Albus saw that it was a ragged hat. It was battered and patched, with a huge slit across the brim. Albus stared at it. For a few seconds, there was complete silence.

The slit across the brim opened, and the hat began to sing.

In a time, so long ago,

When Hogwarts had yet to start,

Were four great friends, with four great minds,

And crucially, four great hearts.

These four friends, they had a dream,

A plan, a great ambition,

To find young wizards, like themselves,

To teach them was their mission.

Good Gryffindor, courageous and brave,

Required those who had a noble heart.

Keen Ravenclaw and all her wits

Wanted those who were clever and smart.

Sly Slytherin, with deadly skill,

Needed striving schemers like him.

Kind Hufflepuff, loyal and sweet

Just wanted to let them all in.

Now these four founders, they are long gone

And now I am left to decide.

So put me on, and I will reveal

Where your true character abides.

The great hall erupted in raucous applause. He heard a boy behind him exclaim indignantly, "So you just have to put on the hat!" Albus felt relieved. This didn't seem so bad. He looked across at Rose, who had now regained all of her colour, and was smiling.

Professor Longbottom unrolled the scroll of parchment, and called out a name.

"Atkinson, Naomi." A small, dark skinned girl stumbled forward and sat on the stool. Professor Longbottom lowered the hat onto her head, and it fell right past her nose. After a few seconds, the brim opened once more, and exclaimed to the hall.

"Slytherin!" The table on the far right cheered, and Naomi Atkinson rushed over, and sat down. Albus clapped along with the rest, and watched "Baker, Victoria!" be sorted into Hufflepuff, and "Clasper, Adrian!" join her. Albus noticed that the hat spent a lot longer sorting some people than others. "Ditchfield, Daniel!" took a whole minute to be sorted into Gryffindor, whereas "Edmondson, Natalie!" was sorted into Ravenclaw almost immediately.

The line started to whittle down, until there was about half of the first years left. Albus nervously looked around at the remaining pupils, and saw, to his relief, that they were looking just as scared as he felt.

"Malfoy, Scorpius!" brought Albus back to his senses. Again, a bell went off in the back of his mind, as the blonde boy who had been told to be nice to him walked up to the stool. He sat down, and let the hat be lowered onto his head. It fell down past his nose, just like it had done for so many. Albus saw his fingers clench on the stool, as the hat decided. It surely must have taken at least five minutes. The room started to erupt in conversations as the hat deliberated. Albus saw Scorpius biting his lip.

"Slytherin!" The hat called. The table on the far right erupted in appreciative applause, and he saw Scorpius scuttle over, and have his hand shaken by an older boy with a silver P glimmering on his chest.

As Albus watched Scorpius, two more students were sorted, and he jumped in surprise when "Potter, Albus!" was called. He walked over, slowly to the stool; the eyes of all the people in the great hall making his face turn crimson. He kept his eye on the stool, determined not to meet the eyes of his waving brother.

He sat down on the stool, and with a small smile at Professor Longbottom, felt the hat fall onto his head. As it fell down the great hall disappeared, and he looked into the dirty folds of the hat.

'_Aahh, another tricky one…' _A small voice spoke in his ears. '_Well, you could also either belong in Slytherin or Gryffindor. Like your father, yes I remember him well. He would have done well in Slytherin…Well where should I put you? You have the right mind set to be a Gryffindor, and it's really what you're expected to be…but then again, there is that potential. You could also be great in Slytherin.' _Albus listened closely to the hat's random thoughts. Where did he truly want to go?

"_Gryffindor!" _Albus thought, furiously.

'_Well, I suppose, if that's really where you want to be…you may regret it, you could be a great Slytherin…_ _Yes, are you sure you want to be in Gryffindor?'_

'_Yes!' _Albus screwed up his eyes in concentration.

'_Fine, on your head, be it. GRYFFINDOR!' _The hat cried out loud, and Professor Longbottom lifted the hat from his head. He headed over to the table on the left, and sat down next to Daniel Ditchfield. He felt his hand being shook over and over again, but his mind was elsewhere. He was still thinking about what the hat had said. _'Like your father'… 'I remember him well'… 'You may regret it'… _Had he really made the right choice?

He only came back to his senses when Rose sat next to him, looking very pleased with herself.

"It was going to put me in Ravenclaw!" she said indignantly.

"Well, you don't want to go there, bunch of nerds…" said James, who was sitting a few seats down from them. He patted Albus on the back, "Well done, Al. You nearly took as long as that Malfoy boy. He's the son of one of the people who work in the Ministry with Dad."

"Yeah, Dad knew his father at school, Scorpius told me," Albus said. James dismissed this and turned to his best friend, Andrew, to discuss the sorting.

However the noise seemed to be fizzling out. Albus and Rose looked up to the high table to see a tall man standing up. He was in the centre of the table, and his high backed, golden seat had been pushed back to give him room. He was middle aged, with dark brown hair and beard scattered with flecks of grey. He was wearing long splendid robes of dark purple, spangled with silver stars, and wore a silver wizard's hat, which glittered in the candle light. Warm, dark eyes surveyed them all as they looked up at him.

This must be the headmaster: Arthur Merrigan, the man who had joined Hogwarts to replace Dumbledore after Snape had gone. Albus knew the story well.

After the Dark Lord's final defeat, Hogwarts had been left broken and empty. The old teachers were in need of a new headmaster, and the obvious choice, Professor McGonagall, had declared that she had been planning an early retirement. This was, perhaps, the school's darkest hour. Most of the wizarding world doubted whether the school could ever recover from the damage it had received from the final battle. But out of nowhere, a host of foreign, new, clever wizards had came, and offered to help the school. This had included Arthur Merrigan. After the group of wizards and witches had helped repair the school, he had taken up McGonagall's post of head of transfiguration, and many others followed suit. Professor Cassandra Spion had taken the potions post, and once Professor Flitwick had retired, Professor Lorelle Fay had joined.

Albus, James and Rose knew all of this because of Neville. Once his predecessor, Professor Sprout had retired, he left the Aurors and became the Herbology professor, and then, deputy head when Merrigan became headmaster. Neville had kept the Potters and the Weasleys well up to date on the state of Hogwarts. The affairs of their old school greatly interested the Weasley-Potter gang, especially Harry.

Albus focussed all his attention onto the man before him. Some said that he was nearly as good as Dumbledore. As Albus Dumbledore had been his namesake, he was keen to see how this headmaster compared.

"Welcome!" Professor Merrigan boomed. A loud, kind voice called out over the students, and dead silence fell over them. Albus and Rose looked at each other, a nervous smile on their faces. So far, so good. His first impression was going well.

"Now, is not the time for long, and drawling speeches, I shall bore you with my whimsical ramblings later. For now, let us eat!" He clapped his hands in an extravagant fashion, and the golden plates before them were suddenly filled with mountains of food.

"Excellent!" he heard James and Andrew shout down the table, in unison.

He pulled a plate of chicken drumsticks over to him and Rose and started piling them up onto their plates. He was starting to think that Hogwarts would be alright.

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><p>Over on the table on the far right, however, poor Scorpius Malfoy watched the boy he had promised to befriend from afar. He had really liked Albus Potter, no matter what his father had warned him. He wasn't big-headed, or proud, or obnoxious, as he had been promised to be. When Scorpius had asked why he must be friends with such an unpleasant boy, his father had been vague.<p>

"I owe his father, bad things may happen this year. My friends underground have told me, and… there's a debt I need to repay to Potter…" His father had muttered, more to himself than anyone else. Scorpius wondered what on earth he had meant, but he had promised his father to keep and eye on the Potter boy anyways. He always did what his father asked him.

"Parsnips, Malfoy?" a snide voice had said, and brought Scorpius back to earth.

"No, thanks," he replied.

Anyhow. Even though Scorpius was in Slytherin, he did not want to turn out like his father. Bitter and remorse, Draco Malfoy spent a lot of his time prowling the Ministry of Magic, and the rest of the time prowling Malfoy Manor. He, Scorpius, did NOT want to end up like that. He wanted to prove himself better than the dirtied, Malfoy name.

The sorting hat's words were ringing in his mind too. _"You would be a good Gryffindor. There's a fiery bravery in your heart not even Slytherin will put out"._

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><p><strong>Hello! Long time no right, and I'm back with a new Harry Potter Fic: the next generation. Please keep reading the next chapters, they get so much better.<strong>

**Please Review. I love reading what you have to say.**

**And I'm going to try and update at least once every three days. Wish me luck with that...**

**Jennifer Apple**


	2. The Fiasco of Flying Lessons

**Chapter 2: Flying Lessons**

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><p>Once the feast was over, Rose followed the Gryffindors up to the house dormitory. Finding their way around this huge castle was going to be tricky. She had already lost track of where they had come from the Great Hall, and now she was just following the blonde head of the prefect in front of her.<p>

A long stone corridor later, the group of Gryffindor first years found themselves in front of a huge portrait. Rose looked around, trying to see where they were going to go next. But they had come to a complete stop. The prefect was looking at the portrait, so Rose craned over the top of a girl's head to see what he was doing. In the portrait, there was a large woman, with brown curly hair and a huge pink dress. She regarded the prefect with beady, blue eyes.

"Password?" she asked, in a stern voice.

"Belladonna," the prefect said, and to Rose's surprise, the portrait swung open to reveal a large hole. The prefect clambered through it, and the first years followed suit. To her embarrassment, Albus had to help Rose up, because she was so small.

"This," said the prefect, "is your common room. To get in here, you will need the password, which will change every few months. I will alert you of any changes, and any other notices will go up here, on the notice board. I expect you are all very tired and want to go to bed, so if you have any questions, just ask me, Jess, or the other prefect, Oliver. The stairs to the boys' dormitories is this one, and the girls' is this one. I'll take the girls upstairs, and boys, you wait until Oliver gets here. He will show you to your dormitories." With a curt nod, Jess went up the stone steps she had indicated were the girls'. Rose followed her at a fast trot.

The prefect showed them up a flight of stairs to their room. Five grand poster beds lined the wall of the circular rooms, with dark velvet hangings. Rose sighed in relief, and sat down on the bed where her luggage was.

Her beautiful ginger cat, Marmalade, was purring on her pillow, and leapt onto her lap. Marmalade was still a kitten really. Rose still remembered the day when Cruikshanks had brought home a white, stray cat. Her daddy had refused to let it in the house; he had never liked cats much. When it later gave birth to five of Cruikshanks's kittens, he changed his tune. They had managed to find homes for most of the kittens, but not for Marmalade. Only Rose could control Marmalade, otherwise he would run riot around the house, wreaking havoc. Marmalade was five now, but he still acted like a playful little kitten.

"That is a gorgeous cat," said the girl in the bed next to her. She was just as ginger as Marmalade, and her kitten decided that he had found a kindred spirit. He purred loudly, leapt onto the red-head's bed and curled up there.

"He's called Marmalade. I'm Rose Weasley," she said.

"I'm Claire Corpe," the red-head answered. Claire had long, dark-red hair, and a dark tan. She looked like she had just been on a very long holiday.

"And I'm Rachel Houghton," said a pale girl with jet black hair and a long fringe in the bed on the other side.

"Amy Oliphant," a large, blonde girl said from the next bed, with a small smile and a nod.

"I'm Jardine Williams," said a forlorn little girl. Her brown hair was curly, her eyes were wide and blue, and she looked extremely confused. "I know I'm going to get lost, I completely forgot where we were going when we came up here, and I've already forgotten the password!" Jardine looked like she was going to cry.

"Don't worry," said Rose. She felt very sorry for the sad little girl opposite her. "I've lost the way too. And the password's Belladonna."

The five girls changed into their nightclothes and climbed into bed. Marmalade jumped from Claire's bed to Rose's, and burrowed under the covers, to find the comfiest spot. Rose wanted to stay awake and mull things over, but she felt her eyes close, and she was asleep in seconds.

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><p>Albus woke up in the early morning. He pulled his new robes on quickly and looked at himself in the mirror. Lysander, a tall blonde boy he had known since he was about 3, grunted a little in his sleep. Albus looked at his reflection, and felt a bubble of pride in his chest. He looked just like James. The Hogwarts robes were simply great.<p>

He decided to get a head start on breakfast, and went down the boys' stairs, and into the common room. It was nearly empty, apart from two girls sitting by the fire. One of them looked like she was crying. The other turned, and Albus smiled. It was Rose who was sitting with the little weepy girl.

"Hi Al!" said Rose.

"Hey Rose," said Albus, "what's wrong?" He gestured towards Rose's friend.

"Oh, nothing really. We're just planning how on earth we're going to find our way to the Great Hall for breakfast. We're both already lost," Rose laughed.

"It's okay, I know where to go," Albus said, and the three set off, out of the portrait hole and down the corridor.

"I'm Albus," he said, smiling towards the weepy girl.

"I'm Jardine," the girl said, and smiled a watery smile. As she wandered ahead, Albus whispered to Rose.

"Is she always this… upset?"

Rose giggled, "Don't be so mean. She's just scared." Albus took that to mean a 'yes'.

Once they had taken their seats in the Great Hall, the other first years came and sat around them. Claire, Rachel and Amy had taken a liking to each other, and they sat opposite Rose, Albus and Jardine, whispering about something. Lysander and a bespectacled boy called Stuart sat next to Albus, and started ranting about Quidditch. The other two Gryffindor boys sat opposite them, and asked what on earth Quidditch was. After lots of conversation, Albus discovered that Danny and Jake were both muggle-born, and had known nothing about any of the magical world until a few months ago. They laughed about this merrily, and listened closely to Stuart and Lysander comparing teams.

Albus didn't like Quidditch.

When Albus had first been introduced to flying, his mum, dad and brother had expected that he'd be a natural, just like they had. A few broken bones later, they had to agree, that Albus had inherited nothing of his Grandfather's talent. Albus preferred to keep his feet firmly on the ground, thank you very much. But his dad's disappointed face still loomed out at him from the darkness of dreams sometimes.

A tap on the shoulder brought him out of his daydream. He turned to see Scorpius beaming down at him. His grey eyes were bloodshot, and it looked like Scorpius had not slept well at all.

"Hello, Albus," he said.

"Hey," Albus replied, and motioned for Scorpius to join them for breakfast. Rose snarled slightly and turned to Jardine to ask her about Quidditch. Scorpius smiled sadly.

"Not allowed, I've already asked. I just wanted to ask you what you think so far. My common room in down in the dungeons, it must be under the lake, because the light is all green and there are no windows." Scorpius was speaking at a rush again.

"Yeah, it's good. We're in one of the towers, there were lots of stairs," Albus said. Compared to Scorpius's fast speeches, Albus sounded very slow and stupid. However, Albus preferred it this way. He wasn't very slow to react, like his brother said. Albus just always thought before he spoke, and chose very few words when he did. However these words were always chosen wisely, so Albus was rarely in the wrong. Unlike this, James would say the first thing that came into his head, and he was often in trouble for it.

"Nice. Have you got your time table yet? We have, the head of Slytherin gave them to us, Professor Spion. She's the potions teacher, and I have that first." Scorpius showed Albus the timetable quickly, and after a hurried farewell, he returned to the Slytherin table. Albus watched him sit next to Naomi Atkinson, who promptly ignored him.

"Why are you talking to him?" Rose hissed in his ear. Albus started. What was wrong with Scorpius?

"Why shouldn't I?" he asked.

"I don't like him, and besides, my dad told me not to get too friendly with him. Don't you remember?" Rose asked, incredulously.

_So that's why the name was familiar_, Albus thought. Uncle Ron had mentioned it on the platform. How strange. Scorpius seemed really nice.

Professor Longbottom was at the end of the table handing out the timetables, and so even though the group of first years had finished their breakfast, they waited for him to arrive.

"Hello Albus. Rose. Lysander, hi." Neville greeted the three students he already knew, and rifled though until he withdrew their timetables. He handed the pieces of parchment to them, and Albus looked down Monday's lessons. It seemed to be quite a good day. Herbology first, with Professor Longbottom, then a break. After that, Charms, and another break. Then they had Transfiguration with Professor Abell. Then they had a long lunch break, and flying lessons in the afternoon. Albus felt the bubble of happiness in his chest pop. Flying lessons. Dread filled him. He bet anything that he was the worst there.

The ten Gryffindors went to collect their bags, and a prefect directed them to the Greenhouses. The first years spent their first morning pruning a scary looking plant, which Professor Longbottom assured them, wouldn't bite unless you insulted it. They had this lesson with the Hufflepuffs, who all seemed very nice. After that, they wondered up to the charms classrooms. The muggle-born, Jake, seemed to have a knack for finding his way, and they soon arrived outside the classroom.

At the start of the lesson, the fair witch before them entertained them by making feathers fly in the air to form the words 'Welcome to Charms'. She then set them off on some work to try and make them float feathers too. Rose had a particular knack for it and soon had her feather flying around the classroom, to Professor Fay's delight. However the others weren't so lucky. Jardine's didn't move once. Albus's feather twitched a bit. Danny's did a summersault, before falling firmly back onto the table, but he assured an amazed Rose that it was just a gust of wind from Rachel putting her book down. Professor Fay didn't seem disgruntled and sent them on their way, assuring them that they would get it eventually. Rose's escapades in charms had earned Gryffindor fifteen points. She was very popular this morning.

Transfiguration also went well for the Gryffindors. They were rejoined by the Hufflepuffs, and sat waiting, nervously for Professor Abell to arrive. He arrived five minutes late, and ushered the first years into the classroom. He introduced them to transfiguration, and welcomed them in much the same way Professor Fay had. He promptly turned all the desks in the room into dogs which scurried around, jumping up and licking their faces.

This reminded Albus, painfully, of his dog Jackie, who was at home with his mum and dad. His dad loved the big, hairy, Irish wolfhound, and had promised Albus that it would be well taken care of. His mum didn't look so sure. She had always found Jackie rather frightening. Ginny had bought Jackie for Albus for his tenth birthday, when she was just a puppy. She had been fairly small, and Albus expected that his mum didn't realise just how big she was going to get. Jackie had just grown and grown, until she was about the size of Albus himself.

Professor Abell set the first years off on pieces of hay, giving them a spell to turn them into needles. Again, Rose was very adept, and after three tries, she turned the piece of hay into a needle, and sat and watched the others try. To her great surprise, Jardine also transfigured hers, and together, they earned Gryffindor ten points apiece.

The Gryffindors were in high spirits, but Albus remained quiet. He was very nervous about flying. The morning hadn't been a disaster, Albus thought ruefully, but it hadn't gone well. He had been okay at Herbology, but charms and transfiguration had not been too good. Albus hoped that tomorrow would be better.

* * *

><p>After lunch, Rose made her way down with the other Gryffindors to the Quidditch pitch. It was a very long walk, and that gave Albus a lot of time to get nervous. She could see him twisting his fingers together, a mannerism he hadn't even noticed. Rose knew everything about Albus. They had spent most of their childhood together. She knew that when he looked down, he was thinking hard, and when his fingers twitched, he was about to 'explode'. She knew that twisting his fingers together meant that he was very nervous, and that he was most quiet when he was scared.<p>

"It'll be fine, Al," Rose said, and gave him a little squeeze. Al tried to smile, but he just looked like he had toothache.

Rose had never had any problem with flying, or anything else for that matter. She could fly well, read well and she normally excelled at anything she did. She had tried to teach Albus to fly many times, but she had given up and focussed on her little brother Hugo, and her cousin Lily.

The ten Gryffindors arrived at the pitch and saw the Slytherins had already arrived. There were ten of them too, and she saw the creep Scorpius on the edge of them, waiting for Albus. Rose had decided that she didn't like him, and when she had made up her mind about something, that usually didn't change.

She thought that Scorpius was freaky. His eyes were too big. He was too pale. His hair was too blonde. He had gone very red when he looked at her. He had acted very odd when he found out that Rose was a Weasley. Rose gritted his teeth as he rushed over to Albus to say hello.

"Hello, Albus." Scorpius said. Rose decided what she didn't like most about Scorpius right then and there: he ignored her. Rose was not used to being ignored. She was loud, chatty, clever and stubborn. These characteristics do not do well to ignore.

The Quidditch referee was making his way down to the pitch. He looked like a nice man, with short brown hair and pale blue eyes. He was burly, and had an enthusiastic glint in his eye. Stubble dusted his chin, but it did not suit him. He looked like he was an overgrown teenager.

"Alright folks," he said, clapping his hands together. "I'm Mr Wood, and I'll be teaching you how to fly on a broomstick. As you all should know, first years are not usually allowed to play on the house Quidditch team, and I do not expect you to be able to fly too well, so don't worry if you don't get the hang of it. Those of you who know how to fly already, stand over here. Those who have never touched a broom before, over here."

Rose moved off with Scorpius, Stuart and Claire to the left, while Danny, Jardine and Jake moved to the right. Albus stood, nervously in the middle. He didn't fall into either of those categories. What about those who had touched a broom before, but didn't know how to fly?

"You there," Mr Wood barked. Albus jumped, and looked up into the now stern face of his flying teacher.

"Yes, sir?" Albus asked, quietly.

"Well? Which side?" Mr Wood asked.

"I don't know, I can't fly, but I've tried before." Albus twisted his fingers together. Mr Wood pointed him over to where Rose stood, and he half walked, half ran over.

"Okay. Everyone stand beside their broom, their wand hand above it. On the count of three, I want you all to shout 'up'. Make sure you sound firm. A broom wants to know that it can be handled. Don't worry if it doesn't come up right away, just say it again, until it does. Alright, one, two, THREE!" Mr Wood shouted.

"UP!" Came from all directions. To Albus's horror, Rose's broom shot up and landed in her hand. Scorpius's broom had done the same. Albus looked down at his broom nervously.

"Up?" he asked it. It remained firmly on the ground. He was happy to stay there with it.

Five minutes later, everyone apart from Albus was holding his broom. Albus was still shouting 'Up!' when Mr Wood came over, from helping the first-timers. He nodded at Rose and Scorpius, saying that they must have been flying for a long time. They beamed up at him. He corrected Stuart's grip, and a few others, but mostly he seemed pleased. Then he came over to Albus.

"What are you doing?" he asked, staring down at Albus. Albus went red.

"I can't get my broom up," he said. He felt anger bubbling within him. Albus was usually very mild mannered, and didn't easily get angry. But when he did get angry, he 'exploded', or so his brother said.

"Command it up," Mr Wood Ordered.

"Up!" Albus said. The broom feebly twitched.

"More conviction!" Mr Wood shouted.

"Up!" Albus shouted. The broom rolled over.

"What's your name?" Mr Wood asked.

"Albus Potter, sir," he said, feebly.

"Potter? I knew your father; he was a great Quidditch player. And your mother, Ginny, she joined the team after I'd left. I'm surprised, Potter." Mr Wood lifted the broom and placed it in Albus's hands. Albus went redder. Mr Wood corrected Albus's grip and moved silently on. The bubbling anger inside him was mounting. His fingers started twitching on the broom and Albus gritted his teeth.

"Right folks, I want you to mount your brooms," and after some shuffling, and arguing that they were in each other's spaces, they were all mounted.

"Good, finally, I get to fly again!" Rose whispered. Albus gulped.

"On the count of three, I want the people on my right to kick off." Rose grinned. "One, Two, THREE!" Wood shouted.

Rose and Scorpius flew into the air and zoomed around above Mr Wood's head. They were easily the best there. They whooped and chased each other, Rose's dislike of Scorpius suddenly gone. The others weren't as confident, and hovered nervously in the air, watching the Malfoy boy and Weasley girl show off. But no one was as bad as Albus.

On the count of three, Albus had kicked off a bit too hard, from his nerves. He shot up like a cork, and when he saw how fast he was going, he desperately tried to stop. He jerked the broom downwards, and he fell like a stone. He pointed the broom upwards and he flew up once more. He went up and down over and over again, and when Mr Wood shouted them down, he couldn't return to the floor. When he tried to land, he went so fast towards the earth that he was sure he was going to crash.

"Help!" he cried out. The crowd watched him in amazement.

Mr Wood grabbed Rose's broom and flew up to meet Albus. He guided him back to earth. Albus had never been so pleased to feel his two feet on the ground.

"Now that is not what you want to do," Mr Wood said, gesturing towards Albus. "You were far too jerky, and pointing your broom far too vigorously. I'm surprised, to say the least. You come from a good stock of flyers, Potter."

Albus felt the anger bubble within him. One more word, and he was sure he was going to blow.

"I hope you aren't as bad as that," he said to the first-timers, and laughed along with the others.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT I CAN'T FLY AS WELL AS MY DAD!" Albus bellowed. Everyone went quiet. Mr Wood turned to see the small boy fuming. Albus's face was red, his teeth clenched and his arms were shaking with rage. It wasn't fair. Why did everyone expect him to be like his dad?

Mr Wood hesitated. "Of course not, Potter. I'm sorry for suggesting it was. However, outbursts like that will not do your house well. Five points from Gryffindor." Mr Wood turned to explain to the first-timers what to do.

Albus felt himself go pale under the furious looks of his classmates. Rose put an arm around him and squeezed. Albus felt terrible. He hated getting angry, but he couldn't help it. Worst of all was the surprised and slightly gleeful look on Scorpius's face. _Good for you,_ Albus thought. _You can fly. Great._ At that moment, Albus hated Scorpius more than Rose did. And that was saying something.

Scorpius watched Albus's face fade from that dark puce to its normal colour. He had an idea. Albus couldn't fly. Maybe Scorpius could teach him. The idea kindled a flame of excitement within him. That would certainly help him become friends with Albus.

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><p><strong>Hello again! Sorry if this chapter is a bit dull. It was just to develop Albus and Rose's character a bit more. Please rate and review.<strong>

**Jennifer Apple**

**P.S. Wow! Thank you guys so much for subscribing. This is brilliant!**


	3. Goldmore and Dragana

**Chapter 3: Goldmore and Dragana**

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><p>That night, Albus had a terrible nightmare. He was on a broom, flying high in the sky, but the broom was completely out of control. When he wanted to go up, he went down. When he turned left, he went right. The broom rolled over and over, until he was dizzy and feeling sick. The broom bucked once, twice with Albus holding on for dear life. On the third, he let go of the broom and Albus felt himself falling into nothingness. Before him, he saw Mr Wood's face, saying 'I expected better from you, Potter. I thought you'd be as good as your father.' Mr Wood turned into his dad, who shook his head in disappointment. His dad turned into Scorpius who was laughing, laughing in glee that he was better than Albus at flying. Scorpius's face filled his mind, and Albus woke with a jolt.<p>

He was drenched in cold sweat. His heart was beating fast. His eyes were wide in horror. _I'm never going on a broom again, _He thought. _Never._

* * *

><p>Rose woke early in the morning the next day. She sat up immediately and looked around her dorm. Amy, Claire and Rachel were all fast asleep, but Jardine was awake too. Rose wasn't sure whether she liked Jardine. She was very nice, and very funny, but she clung onto Rose like a limpet. Rose didn't want to be mean, but it was becoming quite irksome.<p>

"Morning," Jardine whispered. Jardine was finishing a letter, it looked like. Her quill had reached the end of the parchment and she started to roll it up.

"Hiya," Rose said. Rose got quietly out of bed, careful not to wake Marmalade, who had been curled up at her feet. Rose dressed slowly, and brushed her bushy hair.

Rose had been told she looked a lot like her dad. She had big blue eyes, a dusting of freckles across her nose and red hair. The bushiness of it, she put down to her mum, as well as her slightly-too-large teeth. She was much smaller than most of her relatives. She had quickly identified herself as the smallest in the year, but this didn't bother her. Rose had the ambition to be a seaker. They were supposed to be small and speedy, so she used her size to her advantage. She sometimes beat Uncle Harry when the Weasleys and the Potters played Quidditch, something she was very proud of.

"Will you come up with me to the owlery? I want to send this to my dad," Jardine whispered. Rose nodded, and pulled on her shoes.

The two girls left the dorm, while their friends were still sleeping. They tip-toed down the stairs and out of the common room. Rose had found the owlery the day before, and they followed the root that she had remembered. A few minutes later, they had arrived, and were tying the letter to Albus's owl, Titus. "He won't mind," Rose had assured a nervous looking Jardine.

"I hope he doesn't mind that it's an owl," Jardine said, as she watched Titus fly out of the window. "I'm muggle born, and my dad doesn't seem to like magic much."

"Really? He wasn't pleased you got the letter?" This was amazing to Rose, and she watched Jardine closely.

"No. My mum died a year ago, and dad was hoping that I'd be able to go to a comprehensive near home, so I could come home early and help with the baby. He wasn't angry or anything… he just looked quite annoyed. He had counted that I'd be able to help at home. He's had to take another job to pay for the nanny." To Rose's surprise, Jardine didn't look like she was going to burst into tears again. She looked more like she was going to throw something.

Rose felt a new found respect for Jardine. She knew what it felt like to have little money, but she didn't know how it felt to not have a large family to help you through it. Her family didn't have any money problems anymore; on the contrary, all of her family were fairly well off. Her grandparents still lived in the Burrow, which acted as the Weasley-Potter headquarters.

"I've got a really big family. Uncle Bill and Aunty Fleur work at Gringotts, and their eldest daughter, Victoire, is head girl, and the youngest, Dominique, is the prefect of Ravenclaw. Charlie is in Romania, fighting dragons. He is definitely the coolest of my Uncles. Uncle Percy is a high ranking official at the Ministry of Magic, and his two daughters, Molly and Lucy, are at Hogwarts too, in Hufflepuff. George is the head of a fantastic joke shop, who he owns with his wife, Angelina. His son, Fred, is in the same year as James, and his daughter, Roxanne, is in the year above us. Aunty Ginny was the Chaser of the Holly Head Harpies, and Uncle Harry… well, what more can I say? He's Harry potter! Me and Al have got to live up to all of that. Sometimes I think it really gets to him. People expect him to be just like his dad." Ginny finished her speech about her family and saw Jardine looking in awe at her.

"Your family sounds so cool! I wish I was from a wizarding family," she said. The sadness had returned to her voice.

"You can meet them one day," Rose said, with a smile, "You can come round at Christmas for a few days or something. Do you have any other family?"

"Yeah, my grandma. She was amazed I was a witch. I think she made my dad see sense. He was going to stop me coming." Jardine looked like she was going to hit something again when she mentioned her dad.

"Come on, I expect Albus will be waiting for us." Rose led the way from the owlery. A strong bond of friendship had passed between the two girls. Rose vowed never to get annoyed at Jardine's 'clingyness' again.

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><p>Albus sat at the table next to Stuart and Jake. The nightmares of falling off his broom had really disturbed him, and he had been quiet all morning. When he saw Rose and Jardine approaching, he grinned widely. Here, at last, was the one person he could tell everything to. Rose had been his best friend since they were five, and inseparable ever since. He also quite liked Jardine. Rose had apparently taken to her, as Jardine had been following her around all of yesterday.<p>

"Hey, Rose," said Albus.

Rose grinned and sat opposite him, pulling ever dish towards her. Jardine helped herself to cornflakes and a banana, and began to eat. Rose had piled her plate up so high, full of sausages, bacon and eggs, that it looked like she hadn't eaten for a week. At Albus's look, she explained. "Mum's cooking is so bad, every time I see good food, I can't help myself." Albus laughed.

"Oh, and we borrowed Titus, is that okay?" Rose asked. Albus nodded.

"What for?"

"To send an owl to Jardine's dad," Rose replied. Jardine blushed a little, and continued eating.

"No problem," Albus smiled, "what have we got today?"

Rose pulled the time table from her bag. She had put stickers on it, and colour coded it. _James would be disgusted_, Albus thought.

"Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology again, Potions and then Defence against the Dark Arts. Oh no, not him," Rose said. Albus wondered what she was talking about, until he heard a familiar voice.

"Hello," It said. Scorpius. The dream of him laughing flashed before Albus's eyes, and he felt like he wanted to turn and punch Scorpius. But the moment went as soon as it had come, and Albus was his mild-mannered self again.

"Hey, Scorpius." Albus said, with a guarded tone. He may have overreacted when he wanted to punch Scorpius, but his gleeful face at seeing Albus's problems at flying still stung.

"I was just wondering if you wanted to walk down to Care of Magical Creatures together. The other Slytherins have gone and I don't know where to go," Scorpius finished at a rush. Albus looked over at the Slytherin table, and saw to his annoyance that Scorpius was right. All Albus could see were burly looking, older Slytherins.

"Fine, sure. You could just sit here for now." Albus moved up, so Scorpius was sat next to him.

"Thank you," Scorpius said.

Albus finished his breakfast, and, after having said goodbye to Rose, (who was taking a long time eating the mountain of food in front of her on purpose, he thought) left the table to head down to the school grounds, to where the Care of Magical Creatures lesson was to take place. Albus wondered how odd this would look to any of the older students; a Gryffindor and a Slytherin were not supposed to be friends. But Albus could see that Scorpius wasn't going to give up. Even though Albus tried to stay quiet and cool, he felt himself warming to the boy next to him. The chat turned to the teachers they had had so far.

"I think I quite like Professor Spion, but I don't think that Professor Longbottom likes me at all," said Scorpius.

"Professor Longbottom is a family friend. He comes round to tea every month. He used to be an Auror with my dad, but he left when the old Herbology teacher retired. He only became deputy head a few years ago though. We had a party." All the things Albus had wanted to say on the first night he now could. Scorpius seemed impressed that Albus was so well informed.

"And he was there at The Battle, wasn't he?" Scorpius said, in awe. "That's all I know about him."

"Yeah…" Albus didn't really want to talk about The Battle. Talking about that night when Voldemort died was going to lead to talk of his father. He didn't really feel like discussing his family with this boy.

"So do you have any brothers or sisters?" Albus said. Maybe if he asked Scorpius questions, he could get the focus off his family.

"No. Just me." Scorpius said simply. He didn't seem to want to talk about his family either.

"Oh. Right." The conversation had come to a standstill. It didn't matter though, as they had nearly reached Hagrid's hut.

A few of the Slytherins and Gryffindors had already arrived, and were milling around, looking nervous. He went to stand next to Danny and Lysander, and Scorpius followed him. Albus introduced Scorpius to Lysander and Danny. When Lysander heard Scorpius's name, he looked alarmed. He gave Albus a look, which plainly said that he wanted to talk to him in private. Albus didn't have the chance to give this much thought, for at that moment, Hagrid arrived.

Hagrid, Albus supposed, must be quite very now. He had been at Hogwarts when his Uncle Bill had been there, and his age was just starting to show. He had a few more lines to his face, and his beard was dusted with grey. But his black eyes were just as warm as in the pictures Albus had seen, and his face just as ruddy. He was also just as tall, and a few of the Slytherin girls looked up in alarm.

"Righ'. My name's Hagrid, keeper of keys and grounds at Hogwarts, and your Professor. We met on the first nigh'. Have you all got your books? Righ', follow me," and he promptly lead them around the back of his house and into a pumpkin patch. He told them all to "wait 'ere!". The group waited nervously while Hagrid was gone. He soon came back though, leading a –

"Ooh!" said a Slytherin behind Albus. _Ooh indeed_, thought Albus. _That is the most amazing creature I've ever seen. _It was a griffin. Half eagle, half lion, it followed Hagrid slowly across the yard. The head was covered in brown feathers which turned gold in the morning light. The change from feather to fur was unnoticeable; Golden fur on the lion's body glimmered just as brightly as the feathers. Big, stunning wings were folded at the griffin's sides. Its beady eyes surveyed the crowd of gasping first years in alarm. Its front legs pawed the ground nervously, and its head snapped from side to side, looking scared. Its shining beak snapped, and Albus noticed the huge claws on the front and back feet. The Griffin did not like the noise, it dawned on Albus.

He desperately tried to hush the crowd. Hagrid nodded at him and simmered the crowd down. "Five points to Gryffindor for noticing that he was scared of the noise, Albus." Everyone stared at Albus and he turned red.

"Righ', who knows what this is?" Hagrid asked. Albus saw, that to his left, Rose had her hand in the air.

"It's a griffin," she said. Albus smiled. He knew that, and he thought that most people did too. Rose liked to have her voice heard, however, and that suited him fine.

"Yup, five points to Gryffindor. If you want to get your books out, turn to page fifty-eight, and you'll see a picture of one just like Goldmore. This is Goldmore by the way everybody." Goldmore pawed the ground nervously again, and flicked his tail.

"So, who wants to tell me the differences between this and a hippogriff?" Hagrid asked.

"Apart from the obvious, that it's half lion not half horse, it's also a lot smaller than a Hippogriff. It's more likely to be found in hot countries, like Africa, and lives in the mountains." Rose grinned at Hagrid.

"Excellent, take another five points," Hagrid said. "The thing to remember about Griffins it that they're very loyal. If you're good to a Griffin, it'll be good to you. You can't get a better friend than a Griffin. They never forget either, so your first impression had better be good. They're very smart, are Griffins. They know exactly what's going on, even if they don't let on. Our project over the next term is to make you experts on winged creatures, and I'd thought we'd start with the best." Hagrid patted Goldmore on its feathered neck. It nuzzled into Hagrid, and let out a soft squawk.

"Righ', I want you in teams of five, so we'll have the Gryffindor girls here, the Slytherin girls here, the Gryffindor boys here and the Slytherin boys here." They all shuffled off to their assigned spaces. Albus watched the griffin in awe.

"Okay," Hagrid called over the students, "I'm going to bring round Goldmore to each group to let you get acquainted. Oh, and while you're not seeing Goldmore, I want you to be reading up on them in your books, and writing notes. There should be questions at the bottom of the page. Oh, and keep the noise down. Griffins do NOT like noise." Albus was perfectly happy with this. Rose was not. Albus chuckled as he watched her give Jardine a disgruntled look. Albus doubted Rose had been quiet for more than ten minutes of her life. She even talked in her sleep.

The Gryffindor boys sat on the grass of the pumpkin patch, and set to work. Leaning on their books, they copied from the book and answered the questions.

A roll of parchment later, Albus had written all he could about griffins. He read over his work over and over again while he waited to meet Goldmore. He chanced a look up and saw that the Slytherin boys had almost finished. Scorpius was the last to meet the griffin, and he looked extremely scared. Albus supposed he could see why Scorpius looked so alarmed. The sharp beak was very close to his arm, and Scorpius was staring at the claws in fear. Albus chuckled slightly.

Hagrid then lead the griffin over to the Gryffindor boys. Albus stood up quickly and grinned. Lysander went over first, and patted the griffin's neck. He stroked the smooth feathers and asked Goldmore how he was. Lysander did not look as scared as the others, and Albus supposed that this was because of his mother. Luna Scamander was a Wizarding Naturalist, and Albus half expected that Luna brought creatures like this home everyday. She was the sort.

Danny and Stuart looked petrified. When they each went to greet Goldmore, Albus could see that their hands were shaking, and didn't talk to the griffin at all. Goldmore didn't seem to like them much, for Danny and Stuart soon left the griffin alone and came and sat down. It was now Albus's turn.

He walked over slowly and the griffin turned its great head. Rose was right, it was a lot smaller than he had expected. The body of the lion came up to about four feet. Where the chest of the lion would be, the feathers started. The shoulders of the lion disappeared under the feathers of the eagle, and the wings were neatly folded beside them. The wings looked about the same size as a Hippogriff's, however, so they were huge on Goldmore. Albus thought that the Griffin looked marvellous.

"Hey, Goldmore," Albus said. He held out his hand, and when the Griffin didn't object, began patting Goldmore's neck. He looked up at Hagrid, who was beaming down, encouragingly at him. Albus turned his attention back to Goldmore, whose eyes were shut. "I bet you'd just like to go for a bit of a fly around, wouldn't you?" Albus said very quietly. The Griffin opened his eyes at that and looked at Albus in agreement. "Sorry about that. I'm not very good at flying. You should see me on a broom, it's hilarious." Albus said with a small, sad smile. If Albus was much mistaken, the Griffin looked astonished. Could a bird look astonished? Well this one did. Albus laughed and stroked its neck again. He continued this one sided conversation with Goldmore, until Hagrid interrupted.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Jake would like to meet Goldmore," Hagrid said, with a wink. Albus looked up at Hagrid and nodded, embarrassed.

"See you soon, Goldmore," Albus said. Goldmore snapped playfully at Albus and stretched his wings slightly. Albus smiled again, and walked back to his friends.

Albus had finally found something he was good at. Care of Magical Creatures. That was the best lesson he'd had so far.

This good mood lasted all day. Herbology was quite interesting once more. The Hufflepuffs joined the Gryffindors in harvesting fruit from the scary-looking-plant-that-doesn't-bite. Albus earned another five points for not getting bitten, and left in high spirits.

Potions, also, wasn't so bad. Professor Spion was, as Scorpius had said, quite nice. She didn't seem at all enthusiastic however, and simply went through all the ingredients in their potion kit. Albus got quite bored half way through, but it wasn't as difficult as James had promised.

After lunch, where he and Lysander and Lysander's twin, Lorcan (who was in Ravenclaw) played wizard chess in the courtyard, the Gryffindor first years went to Defence against the Dark Arts. They had this lesson with the Slytherins, and he met Scorpius at the end of the corridor.

They greeted each other, and Rose stalked away, furiously. She still didn't want to talk to Scorpius, but Albus didn't care anymore. Rose could just get over it. He liked Scorpius and that should be enough of an excuse to talk to him. Rose shouldn't try and make him choose. Albus had never really had a friend outside his family, not that he'd needed one. His family was so expansive, yet so close, that he had never really thought about getting other friends, be that muggle or wizard. He hadn't realised he'd been missing out on so much.

Scorpius was very enthusiastic about the amount of work he did in History of Magic. "The teacher's a ghost! How weird is that? I did absolutely nothing all lesson, and he didn't even notice. Literally, nothing. I sat and doodled on my hand." Scorpius waved the hand in front of Albus and grinned.

At this moment, the door of the classroom opened. The class trooped in, and Scorpius followed Albus to a table near the back. They sat in a row, Scorpius, Albus, Rosie, Jardine, and waited.

A few moments later, a tall, skinny man shut the door behind the last Slytherin. He turned, and Albus saw Marvin Dragana. Very tall and very lanky, his hands rested on his waist as he looked around the class. Wearing a dark blue jacket, and a black shirt and trousers, he almost looked like he could fit in at a rock concert. He could easily be mistaken for a muggle. His eyes were grey and beady, and partially covered by a mane of dark-blonde hair. His face was scared, and a clean-shaven jaw was clenched, as he surveyed the students, through flashing glasses.

He pulled out a list of names from a draw. He called the register, perched on top of his desk, glaring at each student as they answered. Sometimes he would talk to the students. He asked Lucy Barnes if her grandmother still lived in the south of France, and if Claire Corpe's father still worked as a lawyer in the Ministry of Magic. When he reached Scorpius's name, he paused, and a small smile played about his lips. He did not question Scorpius, however, and moved onto Francesca Morrit. He paused again when he came to Albus's name, and looked at Albus directly in the eyes.

"James's brother?" he asked.

"Yes, sir." Albus gulped, and twisted his finger together. He waited to be asked if he was Harry Potter's son, but the question never came. Professor Dragana moved on to Lysander. Albus felt slightly relieved. He had answered that question to quite a few people. It didn't help that he looked exactly like his dad.

"Right!" Professor Dragana said, once he'd finished asking Megan Wilson about her older brother. The students jumped a bit as he leapt down from the desk and landed on the floor. Albus noticed that he was wearing dragon-hide boots. Maybe he wouldn't be mistaken for a muggle…

"This is, in my opinion, the most important class you guys will have to take." He clapped his hands to emphasise the point. _'Guys'?_ Albus thought, incredulously. From his chatty language to his muggle clothes, there was something very strange about Professor Dragana. _This was not a normal teacher_.

"My lessons will follow a firm structure. I'm not a great believer of books; I think you have to get the experience in the flesh, if you know what I mean. So for the first forty minutes, we'll do some practical work. Then for the last twenty, you guys can ask me questions. If we run out of questions, I'll ask you. Okay?" He looked around at the class. _He may seem friendly, _Albus thought, _but I'd bet anything that he's not a man to cross. If those scars are going by anything._

Dragana continued when he saw a couple of students nodding up at him. "First term, we're going to deal with defensive magic. Learning a couple of jinxes and counter jinxes is never a bad place to start. Then, we'll move on to dark magical creatures, and how to protect yourself from them. Then in the last term, we'll revise for you exams. Homework will mainly just writing a scroll of parchment telling me all about the work you did in the lesson. Cappiche?"

Danny and Jake looked very enthusiastic. Scorpius didn't look too sure.

"Okay guys, today, we're going to learn the two most useful spells a wizard needs when dealing with dark magic: expelliarmus, and protego. The first will take the attacker's wand away from him or her. The second with deflect most minor curses. Everybody stand up and move away from the tables." With a sweep of his wand, the desks piled themselves neatly on top of each other at the sides of the classroom.

Dragana ordered them to split into pairs, and Albus found himself paired with Scorpius. They grinned sheepishly at each other.

"Okay, sit on the floor guys, so you can see me demonstrate the spells." Scorpius and Albus seated themselves in the corner of the room, and watched. Dragana was searching the crowd for –

"Potter. You come and be my assistant," Dragana grinned. Albus saw several white pearly teeth. Albus stood up nervously. He didn't like drawing attention to himself. He was an observer, not an entertainer. Nevertheless, he walked up to the top of the classroom and stood before Professor Dragana. His second day, and he was going to be cursed by a teacher. Great.

"Right, Potter, you're going to try and disarm me. The words are 'Expelliarmus'. Try and say that for me," he said quietly to Albus. Albus was shocked. He had been certain he was going to be hexed.

"Expelliarmus," Albus said. He had heard James and his dad practising in the back yard.

"Good, good. Okay, the wand movement is like this," he said to Albus, moving his wand. "do that?" Albus jabbed the wand in front of him, mimicking Professor Dragana.

"Excellent. Combine the two and we have the disarming spell. Okay guys!" he said to the class. Albus felt slightly nervous. He was going to try and hex a teacher. Was that better or worse than being hexed by a teacher? _Better, _he decided.

Dragana stood at the opposite side of the classroom, waiting to be disarmed. Albus focused. _Just say the words and do the arm movement. _This didn't seem like the right way to try and get the teachers wand out of his hand. It just made him feel nervous, thinking like that. He tried emptying his mind, focussing on what he had to do. _You've got to disarm him. Now!_

"Expelliarmus!" Albus shouted and a jet of red light flew out of his wand. It hit Dragana and with a slight crack, his wand flew out of his hand.

The class was silent for a moment. Dragana looked slightly shocked. Then he clapped with his now, empty hands. "Brilliant!" he shouted over the now cheering students. "Never seen a first year master that so quickly. You're a natural!"

Albus grinned at the class and rushed back to his spot next to Scorpius. He was grinning too, and they caught each other's eye.

"He's brilliant," Scorpius said, gesturing over to Dragana, who was now demonstrating how to do a shield charm.

"He must be, to teach me how to do that so quickly," Albus whispered.

"No, he was right. You are a natural." Scorpius turned to watch Dragana. Albus mulled his thoughts over in his mind. It had felt natural. He didn't even have to concentrate on what to do. He just did it. Did this mean that he could be as good as his father?

_No, _Albus thought. _I'm nowhere near as good as my dad. I wish people would stop thinking I was._

* * *

><p>Scorpius grinned at Albus as they left the class together. They now had free time until dinner, and the two new friends wandered through the school.<p>

"Want to start Dragana's homework? Shouldn't take too long," Albus asked.

Scorpius grinned, and they walked up to the library. This whole 'watching over the Potter boy' lark was really enjoyable. And he had a new friend who didn't refer to him as 'Draco's son'. That was probably the best thing about keeping his promise to his father. It was actually the best thing about Hogwarts so far.

The two of them sat down, and listened to the ancient librarian, Madam Pince, rant at some third years. They began their essay. Scorpius began with why disarming was so important, and then how to perform it. He continued with the shielding charm and wrote about what it could block, and then how to perform it. He had just about finished, when Lysander Scamander came over.

"Can I have a word, Albus?" he said. Scorpius had the distinct impression that Lysander did not like him. As Albus left the table, Scorpius watched them intently. They were close enough to be in ear shot, and a few of their words drifted over to him.

"…who he is... Malfoy… Death Eater… watch out… You-know-who…" Lysander said. Scorpius felt his high spirits disappear. His friendship with the Gryffindor was over. He'd only talk to Slytherins, join what was left of the Death Eaters, copy his father in his prowling and spend the rest of his days saying "If the Dark Lord came to power…"

Albus came over to him, a fierce expression on his face. He looked like he was going to hit Scorpius. He prepared himself for the explosion, but as he watched, Albus seemed to calm down. Albus sat himself, firmly, in the chair he had just vacated and scrutinised Scorpius over their books.

"Just so you know, I don't think you're your father. I don't care what your family's done, so long as you don't do the same. I know exactly how it is to be assumed to be the same as your dad. I'm not like my dad, and you're not like yours." Albus gritted his teeth and bent over his essay once more.

Scorpius felt his spirits soar, as he looked upon his new friend. He could not have hoped for a better reaction. Scorpius vowed to show Albus just how unlike his father he was.

* * *

><p><strong>Woop! Third Chapter done! Love this one. I get to introduce two of my most favourite characters: Dragana and Goldmore. I hope you enjoy this one. I'm pretty sure I've got the plot sorted in my mind, so I'm off to go and jot it down before I forget. PLEASE REVIEW! I can't get better if you don't review! Plus, I love reading through what people have to say. Thanks <strong>

**Jennifer Apple**


	4. An Unexpected Birthday Present

**Chapter 4: An Unexpected Birthday Present**

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><p>The next few weeks passed very much like the first. Albus and Scorpius seemed to spend a lot of time in the library, trying to get all of their homework done. The initial thrill of being at Hogwarts had soon worn off, and the two spent most of their time working. Albus had never imagined the amount of homework he would get when he came to Hogwarts. On the fourth day, he was already behind, and spent that evening in the common room with Rose, desperately trying to get his work done.<p>

The lessons continued very much in the same way over the next month or so.

Professor Spion was as boring as ever, although her lessons on ingredients became harder and harder. They received a test every week, and if they got less than half right, they would loose five points from their house. Rose and Albus spent Monday nights revising for these tests, and between them, they had still managed to loose twenty points. Transfiguration was becoming more and more difficult too. They had moved on from needles to chopsticks, and they had been trying to turn them into pencils for weeks now. Rose and Jardine were brilliant at transfiguration, and they spent most of the lessons trying to teach Albus. Charms was just as hectic as ever. If the class didn't manage to do the spell properly, Professor Fay would look all the more cheerful. "Not to worry, not to worry!" she would shout over the hubbub. Rose had excelled at Charms too.

The only three lessons that Albus liked, were Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology and Defence against the Dark Arts. He particularly liked these, because of the teachers. He thought Professor Longbottom was great, Hagrid was fantastic, and Professor Dragana was nuts. There was no other word for it. Brilliant, but nuts all the same.

Albus so far, despite the work load, loved Hogwarts.

In the fourth week of Hogwarts, it was his birthday. October 3rd, Albus woke up early to see a small pile of presents at the end of his bed. He grinned, jumped out of bed, and sat on the floor to open them. From his Uncle Bill and Auntie Fleur, Albus had received a bit of money, and some French sweets. He got a necklace with three dragon's teeth from Uncle Charlie and a bag of treats from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes from Uncle George. He opened a writing set, with a new quill, parchment and different coloured ink from Aunty Hermione, (trust her!) and a set of Gobstones from Rosie and Ron (who said in the letter, that they had given her these to apologise for the bore of Aunty Hermione's present.) After opening a book on magical plants and a lot of his grandmother's cupcakes from his grandparents, he looked at the last present in the pile. This must be from his mum and dad.

He pulled off the wrappings and saw something unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was made from a light, silver cloth which slipped through his fingers as he lifted it up. Underneath it was a note, written in his father's familiar, spiky writing.

_Dear Al,_

_Happy twelfth birthday! Hope you have a great day and you don't mind too much that you have to be in school. We're all missing you very much, especially Lily. She says it's not the same without you. _

_When I was at school, I had two treasured possessions. I had a map, written by my father, my god father, Teddy's father and their friend. They named themselves Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs, and fashioned the Marauder's Map. The magic of this map was that as well as being able to find your way around of all the secret passageways in Hogwarts, you could also see people moving on the map, as they did in real life. Unfortunately, it went missing a year ago. (I highly suspect James of its disappearance, though I don't mind. I was going to pass it on to him anyways.) _

_This leaves me with my other possession: this invisibility cloak. It had been passed down the Potter family for centuries, and seeing as I don't really need it anymore, I thought it time to pass it on. This is a very precious item, Al. Please, use it well, and I may write for to you to ask whether I can borrow it. I find it useful sometimes when I'm doing work for the ministry. _

_Lots of Love, Dad._

And at the bottom, his mother had written a note too.

_This is not supposed to encourage you to rule break, more to stop yourself getting into trouble when you are rule breaking. Please don't go wondering the corridors at night like your father did, unless it's really urgent. Love Mum._

Albus felt slightly in shock. An invisibility cloak? He looked around at his friends, who were starting to wake up too. He wouldn't try it on here, even though the desire was burning inside of him, more than anything he had ever felt before. This felt like something he didn't want to share with the whole of Gryffindor tower. He would wait until he was alone, or with Scorpius and Rose. Those two he could trust.

That day dragged on very slowly. His lessons seemed to take twice as long as usual, and he checked his watch every five minutes.

7 more hours…

6 more hours…

Only 5 more hours…

4 more…

3…

2. Would he show James? Or keep it to himself. Besides, he hadn't shown Albus the map…

1… Maybe he could just slip it on now, and get out of transfiguration…

* * *

><p>"Scorpius!" Albus yelled, and ran over to where Scorpius was sitting, alone, in the courtyard.<p>

"Yeah, Al?" Scorpius asked. He looked slightly alarmed to see Albus's frantically excited face.

"Come on, I've got something to show you!" he said, and they ran down to the lake, where Rose was sat, waiting for him.

"What is it Al?" Rose asked, a smile on her face. When she saw Scorpius, it disappeared. "What's he doing here?" she snarled. The past few weeks had done nothing to spark a friendship between Scorpius and Rose. In fact, the irrational hatred from Rose had intensified, and Scorpius had decided that he didn't like her either. Scorpius still went slightly pink when he saw her though.

"Look what my dad gave to me for my birthday!" Albus whispered, excitedly. He reached into his bag, and pulled out the invisibility cloak.

"Oh, wow!" Scorpius exclaimed. Rose looked confused.

"It's an invisibility cloak." Albus grinned, and slung it around his neck for the first time. Rose screamed.

Albus looked down at the ground, and saw his legs had gone! He grinned at them both and took it off. Rose's eyes were wide in shock and excitement. Scorpius looked impressed.

"You say that was Uncle Harry's?" Rose asked, in amazement.

"Yeah, pretty cool, huh?" Albus said, enthusiastically. He took off the cloak and stuffed it back in its bag.

"That is amazing!" Scorpius said.

Albus looked at his two friends, beaming at him. He felt an unfamiliar desire kindle within him. It was like a flame, a flame that could not be put out. It kept on burning strongly as the three walked back up to the school, as they ate, did their homework and went to bed. Albus looked up at his bed hangings and tried to identify it. As he fell asleep, what the desire was for came to him. Adventure.

* * *

><p>Four weeks later, Scorpius woke up, extremely late. It was already 8.30, according to his watch, and lessons would start in half an hour. He pulled his robes on quickly, grabbed his school bag and ran up to the Great Hall. He grabbed a piece of cold toast, and ran through the school to his Defence against the Dark Arts lesson. He arrived just in time, and walked into the classroom, panting.<p>

He took his seat next to Albus, and tried to catch his breath. He explained to Albus that he'd "got up really late and had to run", and managed to be gain his composure when Professor Dragana called out his name from the register.

"Yes, sir." Scorpius looked around at his fellow classmates. The four other Slytherin boys were seated in front, and were sniggering. Scorpius didn't really like them that much. When they had met him, they had instantly said, "Draco Malfoy's son." This had not gone down too well, and he spent most of his time in the Slytherin common room alone. He didn't want to be like the rest of his racist house. He had ambitions. He wanted people to say the Malfoy name with reverence, not fear. In front of them, was a row of three Gryffindor girls. He hadn't spoken to them yet, but he wasn't really that interested. He hadn't spoken to the Slytherin girls either, who were behind him. They must have heard from the boys how badly Scorpius had reacted when called "Draco Malfoy's son", so had decided to keep away. This didn't bother him in the slightest. They all seemed snooty and mean anyways.

He looked along his row, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. Albus was leaning back in his seat, watching the Professor as he prepared for the lesson. Jardine, the brown-haired muggle-born who he hadn't really spoken to yet, was slouched slightly in her chair. Rose Weasley was sitting upright in her chair, fiddling with one of the red tresses of her hair. Scorpius thought that Rose was very pretty. But she was a Weasley. He had been forbidden to make friends with the Weasleys. That didn't really make sense to Scorpius. Besides, Albus's mum had been a Weasley before she married. But Scorpius usually couldn't make his father see sense. When he had made up his mind, it was final.

Dragana finally started the lesson, and Scorpius sat back. This was his favourite lesson all week. He wasn't going to waste it looking at the pretty girl sat two seats down from his. If he wanted to bring glory back to the Malfoy name, he had better learn how to defend himself against the dark magic he was trying to eradicate.

After class, Albus and Scorpius walked together towards the charms corridor. Scorpius had transfiguration next, but the Charms classroom wasn't too far from his next lesson, so he'd agreed to accompany Albus. They walked up the corridor, and a horrible sight reached their eyes.

Rose Weasley was standing in front of Jardine Williams, who looked confused. Rose had her wand drawn, and was pointing it at three Slytherin third years. Two of them were laughing, and the third had his wand pointing at Rose. Rose looked furious.

A bubble of anger burst in Albus's chest. His fingers twitched and he scrabbled at his robe pocket to get to his wand. Scorpius quickly drew his too, and pointed it at the third year who was aiming at Rose. Albus did the same. Scorpius knew exactly what to do. He had practised it in class many times. He looked at Rose, and saw her open her mouth to shout -

"EXPELLIARMUS!" the three bellowed together. The three spells combined not only meant that the Slytherin's wand flew out of his hand, but that he flew into the air with it. He smacked into the wall. The other two boys grabbed their wand, but Scorpius was too quick for them.

"Petrificus totalus!" Scorpius shouted, and one of the thugs fell to the floor. A shout behind him made him turn, and he saw a third year Gryffindor curse the other Slytherin, who fell to the floor too.

Scorpius, Albus and the third year ran over to Rose and Jardine. Both of them looked terrified.

"Are you okay, Rose?" the third year asked. He was tall, had dark red hair and blue eyes. He looked a lot like both Albus and Rose, and Scorpius instantly assumed that this was a Weasley.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Rose said furiously, stuffing her wand back into her pocket, "Jardine shouldn't be though."

"What happened?" Albus asked, but the third year interrupted.

"Come on, let's get out of here. I'd bet you anything that there's a teacher nearby, and we need to leave the scene of the crime, so to speak." The third year grabbed Rose and pulled her away. The others followed him.

He led them behind a loose tapestry, and lit his wand so they could see each other in the dark. He looked mutinous.

"What on earth do you think you're doing? Dueling in the corridors? In your second month?" the third year scolded. He looked down upon Albus and Rose, who looked abashed.

"Err, who…?" Jardine asked, motioning to the third year.

"I'm James, Albus's brother," he said impatiently.

"Oh," said Scorpius. So he wasn't a Weasley after all.

"I'm not going to tell the parents this time-"

"They called Jardine a mudblood! You would have done the same!" Rose exclaimed, but James ignored her.

"But if I see you cursing anyone again, even if they are Slytherins, I'll write home. No offence," he said to Scorpius.

"None taken," Scorpius replied.

Albus, Rose, Jardine and Scorpius left the dingy space behind the tapestry, and walked up to the charms corridor.

"I don't know who he thinks he is. Mum and dad got three letters about him hexing Slytherins on the way to class last year," Albus grumbled. Jardine laughed.

Scorpius bad Albus farewell and turned back to go to transfiguration. He had nearly left the corridor when he heard running behind him. He turned to see Rose, looking very red, and very pretty. Scorpius turned red too.

"I'm really sorry I was so mean to you," she said at a rush, and gave him a small smile, before running back to her classroom.

Scorpius went to transfiguration with a new spring in his step.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter four done! Sorry it's quite a short and fairly boring one. The next one will have a bit of action in it, and it should be up tomorrow. (You can see I have no life…)<strong>

**Please ****Review! It only takes a second, and it helps me improve so much more. Thanks again!**

**Jennifer Apple**


	5. A Halloween Attack

**Chapter 5: A Halloween Attack**

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><p>After their last lesson that day, Albus and Rose went to the courtyard. They were hoping to find Scorpius, and sure enough, they saw him sitting on a bench, knees tucked up, reading. They walked over to him, and he turned, and grinned.<p>

"Have you seen the Great Hall?" he asked.

"No, should we have?" Albus asked.

"Yes! They've decorated it for Halloween! It's the feast tonight, isn't it?" Scorpius enthused. Albus knew that Scorpius had been looking forward to this banquet all week.

"Let's go look!" Rose exclaimed, and they walked up the steps to the Great Hall. Albus noticed that a lot of people, mainly Slytherins, were watching the three very strangely. He imagined this was either because of Albus's dad, Rose's parents or the fact that a Slytherin was friends with two Gryffindors. He highly suspected the latter.

The three peeked through the door of the Great Hall and saw a magnificent sight.

All the white candles which usually floated above the tables had been bewitched to be black. Their lights flickered merrily. Albus saw gigantic pumpkins in the windows, carved to look like gruesome faces and Professor Fay bewitching streamers to fall, delicately, all over the room. Some landed on the tables, some landed on the teachers' seats, and some just merrily floated around.

"That's amazing!" Rose whispered. They couldn't wait for the feast.

* * *

><p>Albus was late.<p>

He had wanted to finish a particularly nasty essay from Professor Spion about the magical properties of Wolfsbane, but he had run out of time, and he still hadn't finished. At five to seven, he had looked around at the empty common room, and then down at his watch. He had leapt from his chair, and put away his work. The feast was supposed to start at seven o'clock, and even if he ran, he would be late. He therefore had dashed upstairs and grabbed his invisibility cloak. Maybe if he slipped it on, no one would notice when he came in late.

He pulled it on when he was out of the common room, and he sprinted through the school. This wasn't easy, as he kept tripping over its hem. He stumbled through the corridors of the school, not really paying attention to where he was going. After five minutes, he had to conclude. He was lost.

He finally found a corridor he thought looked familiar. It was on the seventh floor, and Albus knew where to go from here. But Albus was not alone. Lying, propped up against the wall, was a small blonde girl. He walked along it slowly. The girl looked like she was asleep.

As Albus approached, he saw something that made his stomach turn over. A small pool of blood had gathered around her robes. Her face was pale. She wasn't asleep, she was unconscious.

Albus whipped off his invisibility cloak, and ran towards her. She was a Hufflepuff, judging by her yellow tie, and he faintly recognised her.

"Victoria?" he asked. This was the first girl to be sorted on the first night. She had said hello to him a few times in the corridors. They had taken classes together, and she had helped him last week with a particularly vicious plant in Herbology.

Victoria did not stir.

"SOMEBODY HELP!" He bellowed. The corridor remained empty. _Everyone's down at the feast! _Albus realised. _What should I do? _He could run down to the Great Hall and get a teacher, but leave Victoria all alone. He could stay with her, but then they would get no help. He tried to lift her, but she was too heavy for his puny muscles. He decided to stay with her for another ten minutes, and if she didn't come around, go and find someone to help.

Just as Albus came to this conclusion, he heard the pounding of feet. He turned, and to his relief he saw the one person he was hoping to find.

"Professor Dragana, Victoria, she's-" Albus started.

"Move, Potter," he growled. Albus jumped up, and Professor Dragana knelt in front of Victoria. He studied her face intently, and lifted one of her eyes.

"Don't worry, Potter, she's only stunned, and she must have hit her head on the wall." Dragana looked grimly at Albus, "did you see who did this?" he asked. The growl had disappeared from his voice, as he looked at Albus's terrified face.

"No sir, when I came here she was like this." Albus looked down at Victoria. She was still very pale.

"When was that?" Dragana asked, checking Victoria's pulse.

"Only a few minutes ago. I was going to go and get someone, but I didn't want to leave her."

Dragana looked at Albus intently. "I believe you, Potter. I'm going to take Miss Baker to the Hospital Wing. You go down and enjoy the feast."

"No," Albus said, with ferociousness that surprised even himself. "Can I come with you?"

Dragana hesitated, then nodded. With a wave of his wand, a stretcher appeared. He lifted Victoria's tiny body onto it with ease, and levitated it a few feet off the ground. The stretcher went first, then Dragana, pointing his wand at it, and Albus trailing behind. They went in this fashion down a flight of stairs, past a corridor full of paintings which exclaimed in alarm at the sight of the stretcher, and into the hospital wing.

Madam Patil blanched at the sight of the three as they walked into the hospital wing. She instantly scurried around, collecting potions from shelves, muttering to herself. "On Halloween! Typical, the night I was about to go down to the feast, some poor girl gets herself-"

"Don't worry, Parvati. She's only stunned, with a small cut to the back of the head. I thought I should bring her down here just in case something worse had happened to her too." Dragana lifted Victoria onto one of the beds. Albus felt a bit useless.

"Is there anything I can do, Madam Patil?" Albus asked, hopefully. Madam Patil looked down on Albus with surprise, as if she hadn't noticed he was there. Then Albus realised that she was working out who he was.

"Yes, Potter. You sit with her, and make sure she's okay, while I find something to pep her up when she wakes. I doubt she was only stunned, you know," she said, looking at Dragana.

"Parvati, just go down to the feast. I'll look after Miss Baker," with a grateful smile and a promise to return in half an hour, Madam Patil left.

Albus, sitting on the chair next to Victoria's bed, watched Dragana busy himself with two bottles of potion. He turned, and smiled at Albus. "You can go too if you want, Potter." Albus shook his head. He wanted to stay. There would be other feasts, and other times to enjoy the food of Hogwarts. He couldn't explain it, but he wanted to stay, to make sure Victoria was alright.

With a glass of dark red liquid in hand, Dragana stood over Victoria. He pointed his wand at her face, and said quietly, "Rennervate." Victoria's eyes fluttered open, and she sat up quickly. Dragana pushed her back onto her pillows and handed her the red liquid. "Drink," he said, and pulled a chair over from the next bed. Victoria sipped the red liquid, and coughed violently.

"Pepper Up Potion," he explained to them. "It'll have you feeling better in no time." Dragana dabbed the back of Victoria's head with a cloth, and applied some other potion. Victoria sighed with relief, and Albus saw, to his amazement, that the cut had sealed itself.

Dragana looked gravely down upon Victoria. "You have to explain to me what happened, Victoria." Albus waited. Victoria gulped.

"I was really late for the feast, because I had to hand in an essay to Professor Abell, but he'd already gone down to the feast, so I was walking down the corridor when…" Victoria screwed up her eyes. "I'm not really sure. I thought I heard some noise coming from the right, like a door opening. I turned, and… I remember a flash of light and… it really hurt. I over, and I heard someone laughing. They said 'stupefy', and I can't remember anything else," Victoria finished lamely. Albus felt his heard pounding.

"Was it a man or a woman? Did you recognise the voice?" Dragana asked, urgently.

Victoria thought for a moment. "It was definitely a woman, but I didn't recognise the voice. It sounded… foreign. Maybe Russian." There was a moment of silence. Albus mulled over Victoria's words, and a sudden blast of realisation hit him.

"But there aren't any doors on the seventh floor corridor, Victoria," he said.

"I know. I'm just telling you what happened," Victoria said.

Dragana had a strange look in his eye. It could have been confusion, but it easily could have been triumph too. He said softy to Victoria, "This other potion will help you fall to sleep. You should stay here tonight, and you'll be fine for tomorrow's lessons, okay?" She nodded, and accepted another glass of pale blue liquid. She drank, lay back, and was asleep in seconds.

Dragana got up to leave, and Albus did too.

"Sir? What do you think happened?" Albus asked, after a few moments thought.

Dragana looked down upon Albus. He seemed to be sizing him up.

"I don't know, Potter. All I know is that bad things are supposed to be happening these next few years at Hogwarts. Whether this is the start of them, I don't know. My friends at the Auror office have told me that some of their spies among the underground death eaters have heard whispers of… well… the stories are mixed." Dragana smiled darkly.

"You know people in the Auror office?" Albus asked. What he really meant was, 'do you know my dad?'

Dragana laughed. "Yes, including your father. I joined the Aurors at the same time Professor Longbottom did, and left at the same time too. Your father is a great man, Albus." Dragana motioned that Albus leave the hospital wing, and Albus did, without another word.

* * *

><p>"Don't scream," Rose heard a whisper on the back of her neck. She jumped severely and turned around to see… nothing.<p>

"It's me, under the invisibility cloak," the voice said, in Albus's tone. Rose sighed in relief.

"Why weren't you at the feast?" she said, quietly. She was outside the Great Hall, waiting for Scorpius. Lots of people were rushing past her towards the staircases or down corridors which lead to the dungeons.

"I'll explain later. Grab Scorpius, and we can go some place private."

Rose saw Scorpius approaching just as Albus said this, and she literally grabbed him. With a significant look, she pulled him away, and the three of them went down a corridor which was deserted. Albus pulled off his invisibility cloak, and frantically began to explain.

* * *

><p>"…and he said that there were still death eaters, and that there would be something bad happening at Hogwarts," Albus finished. He looked impressively at his two friends. Rose looked shocked. Scorpius felt scared.<p>

Those last few words had ringed a bell in Scorpius's mind.

_Draco Malfoy was sitting by the fire in his high backed armchair. He looked down upon his son, his pride and joy, the apple of his eye. He wanted Scorpius to do so well, and not make all the mistakes that he did. Draco could still remember the first time he had met Harry Potter. He regretted his arrogance and rudeness to this day. His old friends from Slytherin would say 'if the dark Lord had come to power' but Draco always thought 'if I had been friends with Harry'. Draco regretted every single thing he did under the Dark Lord's instruction…Cursing Katie Bell, poisoning Ron Weasley, and almost killing the greatest man he had ever known. Dumbledore._

_Scorpius was standing in front of Draco, a confused look on his face. "What is it, father?" he asked. Draco stole himself to do something._

"_I want you to keep your eye on the Potter-boy, Albus." Draco looked at his son's face closely._

"_Why?" Scorpius asked._

_Why indeed. Draco wasn't sure himself. But Draco had a debt to repay Harry Potter. Potter had saved his life twice in one night. Draco still felt the hot shame in his throat sometimes. They had made their peace, Potter had returned his wand, but Draco wasn't satisfied. _

_Draco had mixed feelings towards Harry Potter. For one, he was grateful that he hadn't handed him over to the dementors. He had stood up for Draco in court, explaining how Draco had done all these things for fear of the Dark Lord killing his family. Draco was also extremely grateful that Harry Potter had not only saved him from Azkaban, but saved his life, twice. But Draco was also loathed Harry Potter. Loathed him for the humiliation he had brought Draco's family. Loathed him for being right all along. _

_Maybe if his son, Scorpius, could save Harry's son, Albus, from some dreadful fate that was being planned around Albus…Only then could Draco truly make his peace with Harry Potter. _

Scorpius listened to his friends speculating, and tried to make sense of it all. Something bad was going to happen at Hogwarts. He had heard it from his father, and now from Dragana. This did not bode well.

Scorpius saw a curious light behind both Rose's and Albus's eyes. They looked excited, worried and scared. It was the same light that Scorpius had seen in Albus's face when he had received the invisibility cloak. It was a burning curiosity. A desire for adventure. Scorpius was along for the ride.

* * *

><p><strong>Yippee! Chapter 5 done, and finally, a bit of action for the trio. What do you think of Dragana guys?<strong>

**Oh and thanks for all the lovely reviews I'm getting. Don't be shy, tell me what you think. :D**


	6. The Seventh Floor Corridor

**Chapter 6: The Seventh Floor Corridor**

* * *

><p>"Oh come on, Scorpius!" Albus whispered over the top of his transfiguration homework, "aren't you the least bit curious?"<p>

"No. I am not." Scorpius said firmly. Every night this week, Albus and Rose had been trying to persuade him to accompany them on what they were calling 'amidnightstroll'. The cousins had taken it upon themselves to solve the mystery of the missing door on the seventh floor corridor. The two took it in turns to harass Scorpius every night, and it was becoming a bit wearisome. Scorpius's apparent lack of interest had only spurred them on. Rose, in particular, could be very persistent.

"Come on, Scorpius!" Albus begged.

"No, I do not care what may be, or may not be, on the seventh floor corridor," Scorpius lied.

"I bet you are really. I mean, think about it Scorpius. There's a hidden room up there, imagine being the one to find it!" Rose said, "And besides, we have Albus's invisibility cloak. I don't think we're going to get caught."

Scorpius thought about this. It's true that the invisibility cloak would come in handy, but he really didn't want to get into trouble. He really didn't want to forfeit the life he was enjoying at Hogwarts. Also, he had promised his father that he'd keep Albus out of trouble. Surely encouraging him to go searching for missing rooms with evil witches inside wasn't keeping his promise.

_Although, _said a part of his mind, that sounded a lot like Rose, _Albus is going to go anyway. If you think about it, if you went, you'd make sure he didn't get hurt. You'd be keeping your promise after all. _Scorpius smiled to himself. He secretly wanted to find out what the mystery was behind the door, and Albus was going to go, with him or without.

"Fine," Scorpius snapped, in what he thought was an irritated voice. But he grinned at Rose as he said it.

"Okay, I think we need to plan this out carefully," Albus started.

After negotiating for ten minutes, the three agreed to meet outside the Slytherin common room at11 o'clocktomorrow night. They decided that they firmly didn't want to be asked what on earth they were doing looking at an empty stretch of wall, and the only way to avoid the accusing eyes was to do it at night. Rose also wanted to find out as soon as possible, and it was a Friday tomorrow. Therefore they could spend a long time up there, without worrying about classes the next day.

Once they had all finished their work, they went their separate ways, Rose and Albus heading up the staircase, and Scorpius along a dark corridor which lead to the stairs to the dungeons. The initial excitement of plotting their way through the school had now worn off. Scorpius was down right terrified.

* * *

><p>As planned, Albus and Rose turned up outside the Slytherin common room at11 o'clocksharp on Friday night. Scorpius opened the heavy door to hear an excited voice exclaim "get under!" With a sense of dawning dread, Scorpius stretched out to feel the silky material of the invisibility cloak. He lifted it, and joined his two friends. They exchanged wide grins of excitement – Scorpius's rather forced – and set off.<p>

The three walked slowly through the school. They didn't pass anyone living, but Scorpius felt certain that Nearly Headless Nick had turned slightly as Rose stubbed her tow on one of the stairs. They also saw Peeves, stuffing one of the suits of armour full of rubbish, and managed to move on without him noticing them. Hogwarts felt strange at night. The rooms were usually teeming with people, and to see it so dark and so empty… it just felt wrong.

Hogwarts was also very spooky at night. They kept whipping around to stare behind them, thinking they had heard a noise. The floorboards sometimes creaked, and Rose had nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw a ghost materialise on the third floor. Scorpius swore under his breath at one point. He looked back at a suit of armour, which he was certain he had seen move.

They soon arrived at the archway that led to the seventh floor corridor. Scorpius craned his neck around to see the dark pathway stretched out before them. The high windows on the right hand side were letting in a tiny amount of silver moonlight, which illuminated the sconces on the walls. The torches were out. The passage was apparently empty. Rose gave them the thumbs up. They began to edge their way, tentatively, down the corridor.

Albus stopped them about halfway down.

"Here," he whispered. He motioned to the spot whereVictoriahad lain only a week before. Rose stepped from under the cloak to examine the wall from which the door had apparently materialised.

"There's definitely no door," she said, slowly, "No cracks or anything."

Albus joined her, leaving Scorpius alone under the cloak. Scorpius watched silently as they examined the wall. Albus leant his head against the wall and closed his eyes, listening for…

"Can you hear…?" Albus asked, quietly. Rose leant in too.

Scorpius however, was frozen from shock. They weren't alone in this corridor.

"Well, good evening Mr Potter, Miss Weasley," said a familiar growl. Albus and Rose jumped, and turned to see a tall man with flashing glasses and dark blonde hair. Dragana had been sitting on a chair in the bay of the next window, watching them all this time. How had they not noticed? Scorpius felt his heart sink. He took off the cloak too, and Dragana grinned, nastily at them all. "And Mr Malfoy. I thought you'd be down here sooner or later."

Rose and Albus exchanged glances. Scorpius looked at the floor in shame. He was going to be expelled in his ninth week. He'd go back to Malfoy Manor, maybe even be sent away to Durmstrang, to learn the dark arts. Then he'd sit at home with his father, cruel, bitter and twisted, living off the fortune his ancestors had created. He'd make evil friends, and have evil intentions, and hope one day that the dark forces would rise once more.

Albus, Rose and Scorpius followed Professor Dragana away down the corridor, but Scorpius was hardly noticing where they were going. A few moments later, he heard the door slam behind him, and emerged from his dark thoughts. He found himself in a small circular office.

The walls were mainly covered in news clippings, wizarding photos and muggle posters. The news clippings were all from the Daily Prophet, and all seemed to have a theme. They all displayed stories of dark wizards being captured, or else the old 'wanted' posters from the Dark Days. The photos depicted twenty men and women, all in Ministry of Magic uniform, and all smiling. Some of them even showed a group of young boys, hardly older than Scorpius himself, all in Ravenclaw uniform. The muggle posters however were what interested Scorpius the most. He had never really seen one before, and found it fascinating that the occupants didn't move. Some of them showed bands of muggles, all wearing similar clothes to Professor Dragana himself. Others showed strange images of circles and planets.

Professor Dragana was watching Scorpius. "Like my posters, do you Malfoy?" he asked. Scorpius jumped. But Dragana didn't look angry, and Scorpius dared to ask a question.

"Why do you have muggle posters?" he asked tentatively. Scorpius wasn't expecting an answer, but to his surprise, Professor Dragana beamed at him.

"Well, the muggles in the posters are all members of bands I like. Muggle music is so much more diverse than ours. I mean, we just have Pop and Rock. But they have all sorts of genres. And these ones," he said, motioning to the strange posters with circles on them, "explain the fundamental building blocks of muggle science. It's quite intriguing you know. Most wizards don't bother with it; think it's all a load of rubbish. But the muggles have proved that there's a lot more to the universe than just magic. Other people say that muggle science is boring, but I doubt you'll find anything more fascinating than an atom," Professor Dragana enthused.

"What's an atom?" Rose asked enthusiastically. She too seemed interested with the muggle science.

Dragana laughed. "Now that could take a while. Maybe when I don't have a punishment to give out, I'll explain, eh Weasley?" Dragana winked. He seemed positively delighted that someone other than himself found muggle science interesting, and Scorpius hoped that their sentence would be less severe for it.

He loped around his desk and sat on the chair, motioning to the seats in front of it. With trembling fingers, Scorpius took his seat. He bit his lip, and pleaded silently, _Please don't expel me!_

Dragana surveyed the three first years over the top of his interlocked fingers. He leant forwards and said, "If it were up to me, I would give you ten points each for using your intuition, and send you on your way," Dragana leant back, and said more loudly, "But this is not my school. If it was, I'd have you all learning muggle studies as default, offer muggle science lessons to the older years and disband the houses. They make life so difficult for everyone. But I'm not headmaster, Merrigan is, so I'm going to have to either dock points, or give you detention. Which would you prefer?"

Scorpius blinked. They got a choice?

"Err… we get to choose?" Albus asked.

"Yeah, I'm feeling nice," Dragana said, cracking his muscles, putting his feet up onto the desk and looking at them expectantly. The green hide glimmered in the candle light. Dragana's muggle attire and jacket didn't look so out of place in here. The leather jacket Dragana had apparently been using to keep himself warm looked almost normal. The three first years looked stunned.

"Detention," Rose said firmly, after about five seconds of thought. Albus looked shocked.

"If we get points taken away, everyone will know," she explained, "Plus Gryffindor will loose the lead. Detention for me please, sir," Rose said firmly, and sat back, folding her arms.

"Me too," Albus agreed.

Scorpius nodded. He didn't want to be the one who put Slytherin in last place, no matter how little he cared for his house.

Dragana clapped his hands, "Excellent choice. Oh and by the way," he growled, taking his boots off the desk and leaning towards them, a mean glint in his dark grey eyes, "If I catch you up there again, prowling the corridors at night for things that don't concern you, I won't be so lenient." Scorpius gulped. Albus and Rose also seemed satisfactorily scared.

"Oh, and that's an excellent invisibility cloak, Malfoy," Dragana said, the conversational tone back in his voice.

"It's mine, sir," Albus confessed, and took it back from Scorpius.

"Oh, of course, I recognise it. I've used that cloak before," Dragana said, "I've borrowed it from your father many a time... I never got the hang of disillusionment charms. But it will never work as well for me as it will for you, Albus." Dragana gave them a little nod. "I will escort you back up to Gryffindor tower. Oh, and we'll drop off Malfoy on the way."

Scorpius, Albus and Rose followed Professor Dragana out of his office and through the school.

_Thank god for that, _Scorpius thought. They had got off very lightly, all things considered.

* * *

><p>When Dragana had taken them to the common room and left, Rose and Albus turned to eachother. They were both thinking the same thing. Why on earth had Dragana been sitting in the corridor in the first place?<p>

"Was it really because he was expecting us to return?" Albus asked.

"No. I think this proves that there is something hidden on the corridor," Rose said.

* * *

><p>"Potter, Weasley, a word please," said Professor Longbottom, walking over to them. Albus and Rose had got up from Saturday morning's breakfast and were about to leave to go to their common room, but they followed Professor Longbottom out of the Great Hall in the opposite direction. He marched ahead of them, leading them into an empty room just off the Entrance Hall.<p>

"Your detention will be with Professor Dragana on the 17th, that's next Friday," he said. The corners of his mouth twitched slightly, but he looked down at them, a stern look upon his face, "and I must say, that I am thoroughly let down. Wandering the corridors at night is not a practice I had expected from you two." His disappointed tone did not reach his eyes however. Albus could see that he had expected this kind of behaviour all along, and left the two cousins in the room to go and find Scorpius.

"Do you think he really was let down?" Rose asked, anxiously. Albus shook his head.

"I bet our dads did that kind of thing all the time. Mum put in a letter that I wasn't to go roaming the corridors like my father. I think Neville had been waiting for something like this to happen," Albus said, in a gloomy voice.

Was he more like his father than he thought he was?

* * *

><p>The night of the seventeenth, Rose and Albus left the dormitory to meet the caretaker, Crippen. He was going to take them up to Dragana's office, where they would be doing their detention, then take them back to their dormitories atmidnight. When asked where they were going by Jardine, they had gloomily told her what had happened. She didn't seem impressed, but she let them leave without asking anymore questions. James on the other hand, had run over, clapped Albus on the back, shook his hand pompously and congratulated him. "A detention! Welcome to the fold!" he had exclaimed. Albus let James joke around for a bit afterwards, and James soon got bored, and went to talk to Fred and Andrew. Albus knew that James would get bored soon.<p>

Rose and Albus arrived at the Entrance hall, to see the wheezing Crippen standing next to Scorpius. The three first years shared a small smile, and followed Crippen silently through the grounds.

Crippen was an odd man. He was small, stooped, and had grey hair which lay in tight curls on his head. He never spoke if he could help it, but he was always smiling. He smiled nastily when he saw them, occasionally looked over at the three small students behind him when he walked them through the school with a huge grin on his face, and grimaced as a sign of farewell when they'd reached Dragana's office.

Dragana opened the door, and without any flicker of the friendliness he had shown them a week beforehand, ushered them into his office. Three tables had been put out, and three chairs sat in front of them, with three pieces of parchment each. He motioned them to sit down, and sat on his desk to instruct them.

"Rose had made a special request that I actually teach her a bit of the muggle physics." Rose blushed furiously at the shocked look on Albus and Scorpius's faces. "You two, however, can do some lines for me. I want you to write out 'I will not leave my dormitories after hours' on six sides of parchment. When you are done, you are free to go."

The three of them all sat down, and Albus and Scorpius began to write.

* * *

><p>"Really Rose? Muggle physics?" Scorpius asked her, after an hour had passed.<p>

Rose went very pink. "Yes, well I find it interesting. I might ask Dragana if he can teach me a bit more, actually." She swung her frizzy red hair over her shoulder, and marched off ahead of them.

"Mad!" Scorpius said, incredulously.

Rose promptly ignored them, and they walked on in silence.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading, and please review!<strong>

**Jennifer Apple**


	7. Christmas at Malfoy Manor

**Chapter 7: Christmas at Malfoy Manor**

* * *

><p>"…<em>And I do not think that this will be a one time, freak incident, Merrigan! This was the first attack that I have been warned of, that WE have been warned of." Dragana watched Arthur Merrigan move from his desk and stare out of the window. <em>

"_Yes, well I think that it IS a one time, freak incident. That girl must have been imagining things." Merrigan said, staring out of the window at the gathering storm. Dragana gritted his teeth furiously._

"_But she is a muggle born. Don't you think that's significant?" Dragana asked. He tried to take the impatience out of his voice, but he failed. Merrigan flinched, as if he had been struck across his face._

"_No, Marvin, I do not think it is. Now, if you'll kindly leave," Merrigan said, and strode over to the office door. He held it open for Dragana. _

_Cursing under his breath, Dragana left the office, and strode away. He muttered as he walked, with such venom, that a couple of fourth years jumped in alarm when he came round the corner. He soon arrived at his circular room, and slammed the door shut behind him._

"_Stupid old crone," he said, and cursed Merrigan's name. He looked in surprise at the owl perched on his desk. He remembered his half finished letter, and sat down, apologising to the tawny bird._

'And Merrigan is not going to do anything about it. I think the first of the attacks have started. I caught your boy outside the room of requirement, with two of his friends, last week. I think they are putting two and two together, in a way that Merrigan certainly can't. Warn the others, that the dangers at Hogwarts may have come sooner than we thought. Yours, Dragana.'_ He signed. _

_He threw the poor bird out of the window and into the oncoming storm. He watched it fly away with a sinking feeling in his heart. He looked around at the circular room for comfort, and saw the picture of the helium atom. There was sanity. There was a shred of logic in this world which was so lacking._

_Dragana sat and waited for the three truants to arrive for their detention. Maybe he had said too much to Potter, that night in the hospital wing. He frowned to himself. He had never doubted any of his decisions before._

* * *

><p>November passed on in a whirl of storms and winds. The rain reluctantly turned into slushy sleet, and Hogwarts soon found itself in mid December. The howling winds stopped, the students woke up to a frost every morning, and Rose even felt the soft fall of snow on her cheeks on afternoon.<p>

The whole school was buzzing with the onset of Christmas; even the formidable Professor Abell was to be heard humming carols. In a fit of festive spirit, Hagrid had decorated Goldmore's neck with a red ribbon and bells, which the griffin seemed particularly proud of. The first decorations went up in Professor Fay's classrooms, where she had charmed some water to make everlasting icicles, and attached them to the blackboard and chandeliers. Soon the whole school was decorated magnificently, with a huge Christmas tree in the entrance hall, and smaller ones decorating the corridors throughout the entire castle.

The only person in the whole school who did not seem thrilled with the coming holiday was Scorpius. Rose saw his face fall every time he heard Albus talk to his brother about holiday plans, and had started scowling at every Christmas tree he passed. Rose finally confronted him about this.

"What on earth has a tree ever done to you?" she asked, when they were walking down to lunch one day. He jumped and looked down at her indignant face, the familiar red tinge on his face.

"I just… don't like Christmas much…" he said, evasively.

"Why on earth not?" Rose asked, one eyebrow raised.

"I… I don't really want to go home," Scorpius confessed, "I really like it here, and the Manor is going to be really boring. Just the house elf for company."

"Well, come back to our place for a week or so. Dad won't mind," Albus offered. While Scorpius tried to seem cool about this, Rose saw his face had lit up at the prospect.

Over the last few weeks, Rose noticed that Scorpius stopped appearing gloomy as he watched people enjoying the festivities.

* * *

><p>'<em>Dear Scorpius,<em>

_Wondered if you wanted to take up on my promise and come to stay for a few days after Christmas. We're planning to have a New Years Eve party, and me and Rose really want you to come._

_Ask your parents if it would be okay if you came on the 28th and left on the 3rd. Floo powder should be quickest._

_See you soon,_

_Al._

_P.S., send Titus back with reply.'_

Scorpius, letter in hand, ran down the stairs of the Malfoy Manor and into the entrance hall. He could hear his mother playing piano, and he followed the noise into the drawing room. His father was, surprisingly, at home, and lounging on one of the high backed sofas. He looked dishevelled, and his eyes were closed, listening to the lullaby his mother was playing. When the last note from the piano played, Scorpius made his presence noticed.

"Good morning," he said. He walked into the airy room. Malfoy Manor had changed a lot since he was a young child. It used to be cluttered full of old, strange objects, which just sat, gathering dust. But as his father moved up the ministry, so had the sense of desperation to prove that the family were not practicers of the dark arts. Slowly but surely, he had destroyed, sold or passed on his ancestors' antiques, until the mansion had practically been emptied. The Malfoys now lived in the drawing room, the kitchen, the dining room (for guests) and their bedrooms.

Scorpius's bedroom was the smallest in the manor. It had been used as his nursery, but as he grew up, Scorpius never really had any desire to move out of it. He liked the big window with the view of the nearby lakes too much. He had his room just how he wanted it, and besides, it was right next to a bathroom. Scorpius thought of the owl waiting in his room, and hastened to talk to his parents.

"Hello, Scorpius," his father said, his tired face breaking into a warm smile. Scorpius had noticed that his father was becoming more and more tired everyday. His usually immaculate clothing looked scruffy and worn when he appeared home from work. He had developed permanent lines of worry on his face, which only disappeared when he was talking to his son. Scorpius knew that his work was stressful – even though Scorpius didn't know exactly what he did – but to see his father looking so careworn… it seemed strange.

"Um, I've been invited to stay at the Potters'," Scorpius said. Clean and simple. Cut straight to the chase.

"How long for?" his mother asked, quickly. Scorpius's mother was pale, like him, but she had green-grey eyes and dark brown hair. She bore the resemblance of a woman who had once been very beautiful. But she now had laughter lines around her eyes, and her skin had lost the dewy look Scorpius had known so well. She, too, often looked worried, especially when Draco came home from work.

"Six nights. 28th to the 3rd." Scorpius watched his father closely. What Draco decided was always final.

After a few moments of silence, Scorpius spoke again. "Can I go?" Those last words clung to the air. He could hear his own voice in his ears, as if the room had an echo.

Draco Malfoy looked up, directly at Scorpius. "Three conditions," he said, "Number 1, you behave yourself. I want Harry and Ginny to think that you are a polite, helpful and wonderful boy. If I hear anything about any misdemeanours, you'll be off to Durmstrang." Scorpius gulped. That was a common threat in the Malfoy household. "Number 2, I want a letter every night telling me exactly what you have done that day. If I fail to receive that letter, I shall come and collect you myself." Scorpius imagined the embarrassment of seeing his father anywhere but the manor or the ministry. The notion was almost laughable. "Number 3, by the time you come back home, I want you to have done all your homework. And yes, I know you have potions and transfiguration essays to finish, so make sure you do them. Understand?"

Scorpius beamed. Those conditions weren't nearly as bad as he'd dreaded.

"Yes, I mean, thanks, I mean… Great!" Scorpius finished at a rush. "Got to send the owl back to Al," and with one last wide smile, he dashed from the room and up the stairs. He ran to his room and jumped up and down in silent triumph. He was getting out of the Malfoy Manor! For a whole 7 days!

He scribbled '_Yes. See you in your fireplace at about 10. Scorpius' _On a piece of spare parchment, attached it to Titus and hurled him out of the window.

Scorpius lay on the bed. Just the next four days, and he'll be on his way to Godric's Hollow. And besides, it was Christmas tomorrow. This was going to be the best holiday ever.

The next morning, Scorpius woke up to the smell of pancakes. He ran downstairs, still in his pyjamas, and straight into the kitchen. His mother had the wireless on, and was dancing around a pan in which a golden pancake was cooking. The house elf, Lulu, was pouring out cups of tea, and his father was humming to the song on the wireless, reading the newspaper.

Scorpius ran in, hugged his mother, wishing her a Merry Christmas, and joined his father at the kitchen table. Lulu placed a plate of pancakes onto the table in front of Scorpius, along with a cup of tea. His father grinned across at him, a boyish excitement in his eyes.

At this moment, Scorpius thought, no one would ever have known that this wizarding family was one of the purest inBritain. No one would have ever have guessed that this family had ever been associated with Death Eaters. No one would have known that his father had once been on the Dark Lord's side.

Scorpius began eating his pancakes, and thanked Lulu for the tea. According to the new laws that 'that dratted Granger' had pushed through, house elves now legally had the option to take public holidays off. Lulu, however, liked her work too much. Scorpius wasn't complaining. He didn't think much of his mother's cooking. Lulu's Christmas dinner would be far better.

Once the family had finished breakfast, Scorpius led the way into the drawing room, where a grand Christmas tree guarding the families' presents. Golden and silver baubles hung from its bows, from the mantelpiece and from the chandelier. The house elf had bewitched tiny golden stars to float a few inches from the ceiling, and had scattered bunches of Holly upon the side tables. This looked very beautiful; until you found that you had Holly in your hair, or attached to your robes.

Scorpius opened the smallest presents first, which were mainly from his mother's side of the family. He found chocolates and money most satisfying, but he was very impressed with a brand new chess set from his grandma. He then opened the presents from his friends. He found a whole host of toys from Weasley's Wizard Wheezes wrapped with bright yellow paper from Rose, including some of the original Skiving Snack-boxes. From Albus, he had got a broom servicing kit, '_because Rose says your Nimbus looks a bit scruffy_,' the note explained. Scorpius grinned. He expected he could tell Albus that he owned the best broom in all ofBritain, and Albus would believe him. That boy really knew nothing about flying.

He looked down at the tiny present left under the tree. Scorpius, to his shame, felt his heart sinking. He tried not to look disappointed as he picked up the tiny gift, which must be from his parents.

He pulled off the silver wrappings and found a small, black purse. He looked up at his parents in confusion.

"Inside, is enough money for you to buy yourself an owl," his mother explained. Scorpius leapt up. The disappointment had disappeared, to be replaced with glee. He hugged his parents in turn.

"Thank you!" he burst out. His parents beamed.

Lulu entered the room at this moment, with some fruitcake hovering before her. Before she could scurry away again, Draco had cornered her. He handed her two gifts, wrapped in brown paper. They turned out to be a small blue vase and new bedding to put in her room. That was nothing compared to Scorpius's haul of presents, but Lulu appeared as if she had just been handed diamonds.

After several long snowball fights with his father, a long ride over the grounds on his broom with his mother, and a fantastic Christmas meal, Scorpius lay awake in bed. This really had been the best Christmas ever. He looked over at the cage Lulu had found in which his new owl would sleep.

There had been no mention of any of his father's old Slytherin pals, or any hurried conversations when Scorpius wasn't looking. No one would have suspected that the family were anything special. They could have been mistaken for anyone, maybe even a family like the Potters.

* * *

><p>The 28th had arrived, and Albus woke up extremely early. He looked around his tiny room. The little floor space he had was taken up with two mattresses. One was occupied; Rose was hidden under the covers, and Albus could hear his cousin's soft breathing. The other was for Scorpius, when he got here.<p>

Auntie Hermione and Uncle Ron were in James's room, and James, in a fit of gallantry (which hadn't suited him) had offered to sleep on the sofa downstairs, with his best friend Andrew. The family had soon realised that the boys wanted to be downstairs so they could watch the TV. Hugo was in Lily's room, naturally; those two were almost as inseparable as Rose and Albus.

Albus listened to the quiet of the house for a moment. Soon, it would be in uproar. His mum was be helping the house elf with the cooking, his dad and Uncle would be talking about work, his cousins screaming, his brother laughing…

Albus got up, quietly, and put on a pair of old jeans and a warm, long-sleeved top. His parents too wore muggle clothes, but his grandparents always wore robes. He liked his Hogwarts robes, but he found his other robes, like his dress robes, too hot. And, he laughed slightly. _Imagine wearing those in a snowball fight._

Albus went downstairs athalf past nine, and went to the fireplace. His brother and his friend were up, and Albus shoved their duvets off one of the sofas, so he would have a place to sit. He lay back, knowing that he was half an hour early - and not really minding - and waited. Scorpius would be here soon.

At ten to ten, Rose joined him, handing him a bowl of cereal. They ate together, watching the fireplace intently. Five minutes passed without any 11 year olds materialising. Lily and Hugo joined them, chattering away. Another five.

Suddenly, the coal in the grate burst into green flames. Turning in the fireplace was a skinny boy with white-blond hair and pale skin. Albus and Rose jumped up and grinned. Scorpius stepped out of the fireplace, holding a bag and a broom.

"Hey!" said Albus, cheerfully. Rose ran over and gave Scorpius a hug.

Scorpius looked excited. "Hello guys," he said, and hugged Rose back. Scorpius went very pink. Rose released him and the huge black shaggy dog that was Jackie took her place. With a small leap, she placed her paws on Scorpius's shoulders. "Whoah!" Scorpius exclaimed.

"Down, Jackie!" Albus commanded. Jackie gave Scorpius a reproachful look, and she trotted away. "That was Jackie," Albus explained, "She's my dog." Scorpius nodded.

"This is Lily, Albus's younger sister, and this is Hugo, my little brother. They'll be joining Hogwarts when we're in third year. Come and meet the rest of the family," Rosie said, and led Scorpius into the hall. Albus followed and saw Rose throwing Scorpius's bag by the stairs, and taking his broom to the cupboard. Albus loved the fact the Rose treated this as her home. It practically was; Rose had spent nearly as much time here at Godric's Hollow as at her home inCornwall.

Albus followed them into the kitchen.

"This is my Auntie Ginny," Rose said, motioning to the red haired woman sitting at the kitchen table, "and this is my dad, Ron." The ginger man next to her raised his mug to Scorpius as a welcome, and Ginny said "Hello, Scorpius," cheerfully. Rose introduced Scorpius to her mum, Hermione, a bushy haired woman, who exclaimed, "Scorpius! Rose has told us all so much about you." Albus watched in minor embarrassment as Auntie Hermione patted Scorpius, maternally, on the shoulder. "And this is Uncle Harry," Rose said, bringing him over to Albus's father.

_Of course you are,_ Scorpius thought, as he looked up into the almond-shaped green eyes of Harry Potter. Scorpius had seen his face all over the papers for many years. He even had the chocolate frog card. He hadn't needed introducing to any of the family; they were all so famous: Ginny Weasley, the old captain of the Holly Head Harpies; Ron Weasley, Auror extraordinaire; Hermione Granger, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement... and Harry Potter, who needed no title. But Scorpius saw Harry smiling, and heard him say "a pleasure to finally meet you." Scorpius could definitely say the same.

* * *

><p>The rest of Scorpius's day was spent getting to know the village, house, and family. ThevillageofGodric's Hollow contained muggles too, and Scorpius stared in wonder at the muggle sweets in its tiny shop. He bought a 'Galaxy' chocolate bar under the recommendation of Rose, assured that it was the best chocolate she had ever tasted. Scorpius planned to send it to his mother. The house that the Potters lived in wasn't too big, but the family still found space for the eleven of them to eat a dinner of lasagne and garlic bread, cooked by the house elf, Kreacher. The garden, however, was massive, and Rose, Albus and he spent a quiet evening on the tree swing, watching James and Andrew play a muggle sport called 'Football'.<p>

Scorpius soon found that the end of the day had come, and realised to his horror that he'd spent the whole day on a tour. He had wasted a whole day doing nothing.

Scorpius stroked his new owl, Althea, as he composed a short letter to his father. Albus was lying on one of the mattresses, reading a large book on magical creatures that Scorpius had bought him for Christmas. Rose was sitting next to Scorpius on the bed, helping him compose the letter. Scorpius read the letter over.

_'Dear Father,_

_I had a really good day today. I spent most of the day in the village, walking Albus's dog, Jackie. We went into a muggle shop. They have really weird food. There was a 'Pot Noodle' which is basically dried pasta in a plastic cup, a kind of triangle shaped crisp called 'Doritos' and the chocolate bar I'm enclosing. Rose told me that it was the best chocolate you can buy, so I thought mother would like it. We didn't do anything else at all interesting. I've done the potions essay, and I'm about to go to bed. _

_I met all of Albus and Rose's family. They're all really nice. Tell Lulu that the house elf knows her. He's called Kreacher, and he used to work for some of our relations. _

_See you in a few days,_

_Scorpius'._

"That's good," Rose said. Scorpius wrapped the parchment around the chocolate bar and sealed it. He tied it to Althea's leg and, with an affectionate nip, she flew out into the night.

Albus closed the book to talk to his two best friends.

"More family are coming over tomorrow. They're planning to have a massive Quidditch match," Albus said, disdainfully.

"In the snow?" Scorpius asked, still looking after his new, tiny owl. A small dusting of white had fallen in the past hour.

"Yeah. We're not using a snitch," Rose explained, "Although we did last time. That was the best Quidditch game ever," she reminisced.

"Uncle Charlie, Uncle George and Auntie Angelina are coming, with Fred and Roxanne. I think Uncle Bill, Auntie Fleur and their kids might be joining us, but I'm not sure. Percy and Audrey will be coming with Molly and Lucy the day after that. Oh yeah, and Teddy will be coming tomorrow too." Albus listed. Scorpius tried to take in all the names, blinking.

"Oh and then there's the party," Rose laughed.

_Oh no, _Scorpius thought. _The party._ Scorpius had been worried about the New Years Eve party ever since he received the letter. Albus had warned him that lots of people were coming, including some of their teachers.

"Don't tell me who's coming to the party," Scorpius laughed, "I'll just get them all mixed up."

"I do too, sometimes. It's supposed to be a really big party this year. All of Dad's friends from school are coming, including some members of the Order of thePhoenix, and some work friends. The Minister of Magic is coming, Scor!" Rose said. Scorpius wasn't sure whether he liked this new nickname that Rose had given him, but it hadn't caught on. Scorpius supposed that he might have minded if it wasn't Rose. He still thought she was very pretty.

They said their goodnights, and got under the covers of their assigned beds. Albus turned off his lamp, and the moon beams coming in through the pale curtains were the only thing lighting the room. Scorpius peaked over the covers on his mattress at Rose. She already looked like she was asleep.

Scorpius turned over. He loved it here at Godrick's Hollow. But he still felt a pang of homesickness when he thought of his parents. He may act like he hated them sometimes, but he still missed them.

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><p><strong>Excellent, another chapter. Please Review. It's essential that you tell me what you think. How else will I know if I'm any good? How else will I improve? <strong>

**Sorry it was a fairly boring chapter. I really wanted to develop Scorpius's family status a bit, and I thought Christmas would be the perfect opportunity.**

**Oh and I love hearing what you think's going to happen next. I won't lie, I haven't got the entire plot sorted… but I've got a pretty good idea where I'm going with this.**

**You'll be introduced to the 'baddy' next chapter. So make sure you check back tomorrow. **

**Please subscribe. It gives me a lovely warm feeling inside. :3**


	8. Quidditch and Parties

**Chapter 8: Quidditch and Parties**

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><p>"Okay guys," Ginny called over the hubbub before her. The group of people around her quietened a little to look over at her. Scorpius had met all of Albus's family here today, and they were joking around with him. He had remembered most of their names, which was quite impressive, and had taken a shining to Teddy Lupin. Scorpius found it fascinating that he could change his appearance at will, and he, Lily and Hugo had been making requests all morning.<p>

"James, Fred, you can be captains. Choose your team mates!" Ginny cried, and the two classmates stepped forwards. Both James and Fred were beaters for the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but in the absence of bludgers, the family had decided on eight aside Quidditch: seven chasers and a keeper each. Only four chasers and one keeper would be in the air at once, and every ten minutes, they would all swap. James and Fred separated and regarded the group of people before them.

James and Fred picked their teams. Of course, Ginny was snatched up first. The teams started to take shape, predictably the adults being chosen before the children. Scorpius was picked last, but he should have expected it; James and Fred didn't know that he was quite a good chaser. Scorpius was put onto James side, and named "The Blue Team". They were given blue bands of material that they were to use as a sash, in order to signify which side they were on. The other team was given bands of orange.

Scorpius regarded his team. He was pretty pleased. They had James as captain, Ginny, Harry, Roxanne, Teddy, Lily and himself as chasers, and Ron as keeper. James brought them in for a team talk. "Basically, score goals and play hard," he concluded. Lily and Roxanne cheered for the shortness of the speech, and they all mounted their brooms.

Albus watched from afar. His best friend looked fairly terrified that he had been put on a team without anyone he knew, but he looked like he was settling in fine. Scorpius still looked startled when directly talked to by Harry, but the shocked stares were becoming shorter every time. There were six of them not playing: Hermione, Andrew, Albus, Fleur, Victoire and Dominique. They too had assigned themselves teams, and Hermione, Andrew and Albus had decided to support the blue team. The members of the blue team who weren't playing at the moment (Lily, Harry and Roxanne) sat next to the three blue supporters, while the other side went across the garden to set up an Orange Team camp.

Fleur acted as referee for the time being, and she whistled through her fingers to start of the match.

Everyone flew up into the air, Ron and Hugo streaking off to guard the old enchanted hula hoops they were using as Quidditch posts. Albus watched, twisting his fingers as he watched his friends and family fly through the air. He both hated and loved watching people fly. He hated it, because it made him feel very nervous, and scared he they were going to fall. He loved it, as it made him feel extremely happy that he was on the ground.

Rose kicked off, and felt the freezing wind rushing through her hair. The thrill of flying was something very familiar to her. She saw Scorpius set off too, and saw him veer off to the right. She had been assigned to mark him, at all costs. She grinned, and flew over to him. The match had started, and the old competitiveness was stirring deep inside her. She'd make sure her team won.

It had begun to lightly snow. The flakes swirled around the Quidditch players, and fell to the ground. Some clung to the skeletal trees. Some dusted the roof of the house. It was beautiful. Albus grinned. He'd much rather be here, sitting on the bench in his garden, with a warm cup of tea, than up in the sky with the snow, sitting on a very hard, very knobbly, and very dangerous broom.

The Blue Team had the Quaffle (the football the boys had been playing with yesterday) and were streaking up the pitch. Hugo wasn't a very good Keeper at all, but the Orange Team's game plan had been to make sure that Hugo didn't need to demonstrate the lack of skill, by blocking the Blue Team with all their might.

Rose sped up with Scorpius, who appeared to have the idea of flying underneath his team mate, in case he dropped the Quaffle. Rose grinned, and tried to block Scorpius going past her. But to her shock, he swerved around her, and caught the Quaffle that Teddy threw to him. Rose cursed and dashed after her friend, who was heading straight to the hoops. Rose tried to grab the Quaffle, but he was too quick for her. He threw it to Ginny who tossed it, with ease, into the middle hoop. Hugo looked crestfallen as the Blue Team celebrated.

_Damn, _Rose thought. _Scorpius really can fly. I think I've got my work cut out here._ She vowed not to let Scorpius get the Quaffle again, and flew after him, back up the pitch.

Despite Rose's efforts, Scorpius turned out to be the man of the match. He had scored ten hoops during his time on the pitch, meaning that the blue team won, 21-18. They all went noisily inside, James declaring that Scorpius was going to be his first choice next time they played. Scorpius tried to appear cool about it, but he was secretly thrilled. He had just played with international standard players, and had done really well.

"Well done!" Albus gushed, as the conquering team took off their blue bands.

"Thanks!" Scorpius said. Now he was off his broom, and the adrenaline from the flying had worn off, he felt extremely cold. He wished he'd worn a coat, and hastened to follow the rest of the family inside.

They had soup for lunch, which felt unbelievably hot on the families' cold tongues. They all chattered merrily, replaying the match, along with every fantastic goal. With his father's conditions in mind, Scorpius offered to help Harry clear up, and with a look that clearly said "Rather you than me," Rose and Albus rushed upstairs.

"Thanks, Scorpius." Harry smiled at him, his green eyes lighting up. Scorpius watched everyone make their excuses and leave. Harry collected their bowls, and started to wash up in the small sink. Harry instructed Scorpius to dry, and Scorpius leant against one of the kitchen counters, waiting to have dishes handed to him.

_This must mean _Scorpius thought, _that Harry wants to talk to me. Otherwise he'd use magic._ Scorpius bit his lip.

Harry seemed to be deciding exactly what he wanted to say to Scorpius, as he rinsed out one of the soup bowls. "Have you always flown that well, Scorpius?" Harry handed Scorpius the bowl.

The question took Scorpius by surprise. "Err, well, not always. I've been flying since I was really little," he explained, sheepishly.

Harry seemed lost in thought once more. He told Scorpius to put the bowl on the counter, and he'd put it away later. Scorpius obliged.

"Well you really are good. Oliver Wood is the flying teacher, isn't he?" Harry asked. Scorpius nodded. "Maybe I'll send him an owl…" Harry said, more to himself than Scorpius. After drying the last bowl in silence, Harry motioned that Scorpius sat down at the table. He did so, and Harry stood by the sink, with his arms folded.

"So, Scorpius Malfoy," Harry started. Scorpius felt himself go slightly red under the look that Harry was giving him.

"Yes, sir?" Scorpius asked, sheepishly. Harry had stopped looking kind and genial. His face was deadly serious, and his jaw set. This, Scorpius imagined, must be the Auror side of Harry Potter. This was a lot more like the dark wizard catcher Scorpius had always imagined, not the jokey, father figure that Albus had always described.

"I want to do a deal with you," Harry said. Scorpius felt his eyes widen slightly. What could he do, Scorpius Malfoy, son of the disgraced Death Eater, do for the famous Harry Potter?

"Okay…" Scorpius said, slowly.

"I want you to send this letter to Draco, I mean, your father." Harry reached into his pocket, and pulled out a crumpled letter.

"Err… okay…" Scorpius said. He accepted the letter and looked down at it. "Why don't you just send it yourself?" Scorpius asked.

"He won't accept my letters," Harry confessed, "He's never quite forgiven me."

"What happened?" Scorpius asked.

Harry scrutinised Scorpius. Scorpius waited, impatiently. "Ask him," Harry said, finally. "Will you send the letter then?"

Scorpius nodded, and got up to leave. He went through the Potter's house, and up to Albus's bedroom. What had happened all these years ago between Harry and his father? Why had Harry been trying to send Draco letters? And more importantly, why wasn't his father opening them?

Scorpius never realised that he had forgotten to ask about his end of the deal.

* * *

><p>On the 31st December, Rose awoke bright and early. She tiptoed out of Albus's room, carefully shutting the door behind her. Rose crept silently down the wooden staircase, knowing to leap the last step, as it squeaked. This was entirely her aunt's plan. She, Auntie Ginny and her mum were going to make a head start on preparing for tonight's party. They would have to make most progress in the morning, when there were least people awake. This meant that they were less likely to be interrupted, and they could get all the difficult jobs done quickly.<p>

Ginny was already up, and in the kitchen with Kreacher. Ginny had never exactly warmed to Kreacher, and the nor he to her, but Kreacher did do what she asked.

"Okay Kreacher, so that's – Oh hello Rose," Ginny whispered. Rose grinned. She couldn't wait to get started.

First of all, she and Ginny unfolded the marquee that they were going to attach to the outside of the house to act as an extension for the party. They were going to let Rose's mum perform the magic needed to put it up. Ginny magically laid the carpet over the wet grass, where snow had been melted away moments before. Hermione then joined them, and after reading the instruction for a moment, she performed the right magic to make the marquee prop itself, elegantly, next to the house. Ginny and Hermione started to bewitch lanterns to float in mid air throughout the space, and moved the Christmas tree into the middle of the huge marquee.

Rose did the jobs that magic couldn't solve. She picked out the plates that they had decided to use, locking her Aunt's best china away. She rifled through all the records and CDs, making sure all of her father's favourites were hidden, so he didn't embarrass them all with his awful music. She was just putting away some of her Aunt's ornaments when Albus and Scorpius came down. She commanded them to finish the job while she went and got dressed.

Rose had already picked out the pretty blue dress she wanted to wear that night, and laid it out on Albus's bed. After looking happily at its soft, silky material and the bow on the front, she did the same for Al's and Scor's dress robes.

Rose wandered around Albus's tiny room, glancing at her reflection as she passed the mirror. She saw a small, freckled girl, with hair that was far too big and eyes that were far too blue. She wasn't as pretty as her mum, or as tall as her dad. She wasn't funny, smart, or brilliant at Quidditch. She longed that she could be just like… well… _anyone_ in her family. She often envied the looks Albus got, when told he was exactly like his dad.

* * *

><p>"Oh, Albus, you look just like your father," said a small woman. She and her sandy haired husband were beaming at him. The woman had long brown hair, and her face was heavily scared, a lot like Uncle Bill's.<p>

"Err, thanks." Albus said. That was the fifth time that evening that he had been told that he looked like Harry. It was very repetitive. Each time, he had thanked them, and they had moved on.

"So that was Lavender and Seamus... Okay, I think that's nearly everyone here… apart from Ernie and Susan, but they're holidaying inScotland…" Ginny looked down at the list she was holding. "You guys can go now," Ginny said to her two sons and daughter, and Albus practically ran indoors, James and Lily closely behind him. If he had to meet another of his father's friends, he would scream. He had met them before, but this was the first time he could remember where they had all been in one place.

"Hey, Uncle Neville, have you seen Rose?" Albus asked his Herbology teacher. Neville pointed to the kitchen, and Albus hurried in, away from all the staring eyes.

Sure enough, Scorpius and Rose were hiding in here. Scorpius looked very upset over something, and Rose looked concerned. Albus felt the painted-on-smile that he had been wearing for the past hour fall, and he went over to them

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking from Scorpius to Rose.

"Err… he's been… well not exactly… well…" Rose hesitated. Scorpius looked up at Albus, a forlorn look on his face.

"I overheard Dennis Creevy tell his son not to talk to me, because my dad was a Death Eater." Scorpius's tone was flat, and his face remained deadpan. But Albus could see the pain that Dennis's words had caused him.

"What does Dennis Creevy know? Besides, his son is a complete twat," Rose said, putting her arm Scorpius and squeezing. Albus thought for something comforting to say, but he found his mind had blanked. He just smiled, understandingly at Scorpius and patted his back.

"But they're right. I am the son of a Death Eater. You should see some of my dad's friends. They're all horrible. They all know lots about the dark arts, and my dad doesn't care." Scorpius said.

"I don't care," Albus found himself saying, forcefully. He even took himself by surprise, and Scorpius and Rose stared at him.

"I don't care about your father. I don't care about his friends. I wouldn't mind if your dad was Voldemort's brother, it wouldn't matter to me. Do you practise the dark arts? No. Do you want to be a Death Eater when you grow up? No! They know nothing. You shouldn't care about anyone who thinks that because your family were bad, that you are bad." Albus felt himself going red. His speech had sounded very impressive, and not at all like him.

"You're right, Al. I'm just being stupid," Scorpius said, hitting himself on the head lightly. Rose and Scorpius started to talk about something else, but Albus wasn't listening. His speech had completely shocked him, and although he agreed with it, it had also made him feel very embarrassed. It hadn't sounded at all like him. It had sounded a lot more like his dad. _Am I more like my father than I thought I was?_ Albus asked himself, as he followed his two best friends outside.

* * *

><p><em>The woman stalked, purposely through the dark room. The huge space around her was not only black from the lack of light, but also from the great fire nineteen years ago. The objects had either burnt to a crisp, or were charcoaled and deformed. The antiques cast dark, formidable shapes, and created twisted shadows. The most terrifying thing in the room, however, was not some old burnt relic. Not by a long shot.<em>

_She was tall, had black, knotted hair that fell down to her waist and pale skin. Her left hand caressed a tabletop as she passed, her long, dirty nails making the same noise as chalk. She walked barefoot, and her torn dress revealed long pale legs, covered in red scars and black charcoal. The woman had smudges of soot all over the ripped dress. The corset created a tiny waist, and pushed up her breasts. The of the dress sleeves had long since been torn off, and her long, white arms were also covered in tiny red gashes. Her ivory shoulders were bare, and her neck was long. She had painted black onto her lips and eyes. Her face could have been beautiful, if it had not been contorted with cold fury._

_Her right hand was carrying a long, crooked, black wand. In a swift motion, she pointed it ahead of her and a bang issued from it. Something fell to the floor directly in front of her, in a tumble of sapphire material. It groaned, stirred, and lifted a terrified face to the woman. She smiled, revealing white, crooked teeth, stained from the black lipstick. _

"_Crucio," she said. Her voice was hoarse and cracked. The accent sounded Russian. The pathetic excuse for a man before her screamed and was lifted into the air. He twisted once, twice, three times. He fell to the floor, motionless. If she hadn't known better, the woman would have presumed him dead._

_She pointed her wand at a half empty bottle of clear liquid, which flew towards her. She caught it in her left hand. She hesitated, shifting her weight from one leg to the other, her hips moving from side to side. She regarded the man before her, as if deciding what to do next. _

_Then suddenly, she was upon him. She had launched herself onto the stone floor beside the man, pointing her wand into his neck. She grabbed his shoulder-length hair and pulled him upright, so he was half lying on her. He tried to fight the woman off, but it was futile. He was no match for the witch. _

"_Drink," she persuaded. She pushed the bottle to the man's mouth, and after a moment's struggle, she managed to pour a trickle of the drink into the man's mouth. She dropped him. He fell to the floor once more with a soft thud._

_The woman lifted the bottle into the air, all emotion gone from her face. She had her eyes closed, as if remembering something. Something that brought her great joy. Her eyelids fluttered open, and those dark pools looked, unseeingly, ahead of her._

"_To the Dark Lord," she whispered, and swigged. The vodka trickled down her chin and onto her chest. The woman now laughed a cold, cruel, mirthless laugh. She turned once more upon the man. _

"_Imperio!" she cried._

* * *

><p>Everyone had gone. All the guests had left, most of the family had gone to bed, and Scorpius along with them. He had got under the covers of his bed on Al's floor when he remembered.<p>

"Oh crap. I need to write to my dad. Al, have you got any parchment up here?" Scorpius said, as Albus reached over to turn out the light.

"No, but there's some downstairs in Dad's study. I can get it if you-"

"It's fine," Scorpius said, and jumped out of bed. He scurried from the room, and crept down the staircase. He jumped the last step, as he'd been taught by James, and found Harry's study. After rifling around for a moment, he found a roll of parchment, and he was about to go back upstairs when he heard raised voices in the next room. He hesitated for a moment, not wishing them to know that he was there. Then he heard his own name, and his curiosity got the better of him. He crept from the study, and stood in the hall. He could hear the voices coming from the living room.

"Harry. Harry? Are you listening to me?" a voice that sounded a lot like Ginny said.

"It was Voldemort's birthday. Ninety two years…" Harry said.

"We don't care. We're trying to have a conversation about Scorpius Malfoy!" Ron said, furiously. Scorpius held his breath. Should he leave?

"Well, I've said all I wanted to on the matter." Harry sounded very firm.

"I haven't," Ron said.

"Do you really think it's wise to let Al and Rose be friends with… well look at his father!" Ginny exclaimed. Scorpius gritted his teeth, trying to remember Albus's words. _They know nothing, _Scorpius tried to convince himself.

Then Harry said something that surprised him. "I would trust both Draco Malfoy and Scorpius with my life." Scorpius blinked. Really? "Draco is alright. He's putting himself in great danger, living as he is…" But Scorpius had heard enough. He hurried back up the stairs and back into Al's room.

"What took you so long?" Rose asked, as Scorpius swung the door shut behind him.

"Nothing," Scorpius lied. "Couldn't find the parchment." Scorpius planned a very long letter to his father. He picked up his quil and started to write about the Quidditch match and the party. Then, he got to the main point.

_Harry Potter is great. But there are a couple of things I want to ask you, father. Harry asked me to send you a letter, because you won't accept his mail. Why not? And I heard the Potters and the Weasleys arguing, and Harry said that he would trust you with his life. Why? Oh, and Harry said that you hadn't forgiven him about something. What happened?_

_Please reply. Scorpius._

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><p><strong>Well. There we go. Another chapter. I'm sorry it's a bit late, but I've been kayaking all day. I'm too cool.<strong>

**Reviews, subscriptions and general loveliness is very greatly appreciated. You have no idea how excited I get when I see I've got a review. It makes me feel very special.**

**So tell me what you think of the Russian Lady? Guessed where she's hiding yet? (Well, it's kind of obvious…) And who do you think it is who she's Crucio-ing and force-feeding vodka? **


	9. Draco's Deal

**Chapter 9: Draco's Deal**

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><p><em>Draco was asleep when the bird arrived. He felt a sharp peck to his ear. The pain made Draco's eyes screw up.<em>

He was in a dark room. The sole candle lit up the familiar place, and the familiar faces.

"_Stop it…" Draco muttered to the owl. He rolled over onto his back._

The flickering light fell onto his mother's face. She had been crying, and the tear tracks stained her cheeks. His father's gaunt face looked both proud and scared. The cuts and bruises that he had received these past few weeks made him look ghostly.

"_Get off!" Draco batted the stupid bird away. She hooed miserably, and started again. The next peck, Draco felt certain, had drawn blood. Draco winced in pain, still not opening his eyes._

The candlelight now fell onto a tall figure. He had his back to Draco, and was gazing out of the window. Draco heard a soft hiss, and closed his eyes. He hated that snake.

"So, I have your word?" the cold, high voice said. The man turned, and Draco saw the flat, snake-like face, and the red eyes. Draco's mother flinched and Draco saw a muscle twitch in his father's jaw.

"Yes, my lord," Draco said. His chest burnt with excitement, which joined the burning from his wrist. He felt his dark mark upon his left arm, like a knife, cutting into the skin. But it was a good pain.

_"I said, __GET__ OFF!" Draco roared. He sat, bolt upright, and pulled the letters from the tiny bird's claws. She hooed once more, and took off out of the window. _

_Draco's wife had awoken now as well. She turned over, her eyelids fluttering open._

_"Why are you shouting?" she asked. Draco could tell that she was still half asleep. Her voice was muffled, and her words slurred._

_"A bird was mutilating my ear," Draco said, "go back to sleep." But it was too late. Draco saw the heavy chest falls in __Astoria__'s chest which told that his wife had already drifted off._

_Draco still had the letters in his hand when he got out of bed. He walked over to the mahogany desk and lit a candle, so as to read Scorpius's message. He unfolded the parchment greedily, and feasted on his son's words. Draco did not notice the other letter enclosed fall to the floor._

_Draco's eyes then rested on the last paragraph. He felt himself erupt in silent rage. How dare Potter tell his son such things? Draco finally noticed the folds of the thick parchment at his feet. He took them, and with trembling fingers, unsealed the letter. The words were hand written, in a dark purple ink. The font was untidy and spiky. It read simply:_

Draco, I demand that you come to my office, Jan 5th,9pm. If you don't show, even if you haven't read this letter, I shall have to force you. You know I am good at summoning charms. Harry

_So Potter had finally found a way to get to him: through his son. Draco would have to oblige, of course, but the thought of obeying Potter put him into another silent rage. Potter was a senior member of the ministry. Draco couldn't avoid him forever._

_Draco got back into the bed. He tried to fall back to sleep, but images of the dream now came to him. The Dark Lord's face was burnt upon his mind, just as the mark was burnt upon his arm. Draco draped this arm around his wife, and closed his eyes._

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><p>Rose put her trunk down in her dormitory. <em>Finally, <em>she thought, looking around the familiar room. The walls were still decorated with posters and photos. The beds were still made up with soft white sheets. The curtains were still a deep, plush red. The circular bedroom had been a home to her throughout her time at Hogwarts, and to be back was a relief.

"ROSIE!" A high pitched voice squealed from the doorway. Rose turned to see a blur of brown hair coming towards her, and she was attacked by an ecstatic Jardine.

"Hi," Rose said weakly. Jardine hugged her enthusiastically and let go, a red flush staining her pale cheeks.

"How was your holiday?" she asked, and launched into a story about how her younger sister, Alice, had started to say Jardine's name. Rose smiled. Rose hadn't realised she'd been missing Jardine, but it was nice to finally have her friend back.

"Let's go. Lunch starts in half an hour," Rose said, and they left the dormitory, arms linked. Rose had spent such a long time with boys this holiday. She was pleased she finally could spend some time with her best girl-friend.

* * *

><p><em>Harry walked happily through the ministry. His sons may have gone back to school that day, but Harry was in high spirits. He greeted a couple of unspeakables, who nodded in his direction. A harassed looking Ernie Macmillan raised his arm in welcome, and rushed off in the direction of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Harry usually would have had a nice long chat with Ernie, but not today. Nothing could make Harry feel sad today. He was finally going to get some answers.<em>

_It was the end of the day, and the night shift was coming in. Most of the ministry workers were going home, but not him. He had some business to attend to. _

_Harry got into the lift, along with some memos, and they set off. Harry still felt slightly nauseous after travelling in that cage, but it was a great place to have a conversation. He bad farewell to his father in law, who was heading back to the Burrow, and got out._

_Harry was early. The meeting wasn't to start for another ten minutes, but he didn't mind. Harry entered his office, sat at his desk and waited. He stared at the clock. He hadn't been joking; he really would summon Draco with magic if he didn't show. The wand sat, expectantly on his desk._

_At 9.01, Draco Malfoy stepped through the office door. He looked scruffy and tired, unlike usual. His blonde hair was ragged and untidy, and his pale eyes were bloodshot. Draco quietly shut the door behind him, as if trying not to be noticed, and looked up, nervously at Harry._

_"Well, I'm here," he said. He still managed to sound haughty, a lot more like the Draco Harry knew. But his eyes looked fearful._

_"You are," said Harry, gravely, "Have a seat." Harry could tell that Draco resented being told what to do, but he obeyed. Draco sat on the comfiest looking chair, and waited for Harry to begin his questioning. But Harry didn't. He sat too, looking at Draco, a slight smile on his face. Harry could still see the bad tempered teenager in Draco, despite the lines on his face and the new beard. But Draco also looked a lot different. A lot more like a father, and a lot kinder. A lot…older._

_"I believe you have a proposition for me," said Draco, "a deal. Or that's what Dragana's told me." Draco's words brought Harry out of his daydream and Harry nodded._

_"Yes, I do. And you must stop using Dragana as the middle man, and write directly to me. Dragana's got enough on his plate, what with trying to keep our sons away from the Room of Requirement, and finding out what on earth has got into Merrigan. This is the first time Merrigan hasn't taken Dragana's advice you know…" Harry pondered. _

_"So, what do you need of me?" Draco asked._

_"I need you to ask all your old Slytherin pals what they know about this plan that is being formulated. Yes, we know there is a plan, but we know no more than that. They suspect our spies, unsurprisingly. You, however, could get right into the heart of the underground Death Eaters, unlike our spies. And I need you to tell me what you already know," added Harry, as an afterthought. _

_Draco looked furious. He stood, and made to leave, but something stopped him. Something changed in Draco's face, and he deflated. He sat back down, and gave a resigned nod, rubbing his eyes with his fingers._

_"And my end of the deal?" Draco asked, his head still in his hands. Harry chuckled._

_"Our debt would be settled," Harry said. Draco thought for a moment._

_"And," Draco added, "you stop sending me mail through my son."_

_"Deal," Harry laughed, and offered his hand. Draco took it, the shadow of a smile on his face, and they shook._

_"Right," Harry clapped, and leant forwards. "Tell me everything you know."_

* * *

><p>Albus walked down to the Care of Magical Creatures class with Danny and Jake. The two were telling him all about the basketball match (a game a bit like Quidditch, but there were no brooms and only one ball) that they had been to in the holidays. Albus grinned at the Slytherin boys, and Scorpius came over to them.<p>

This, however, was a sad day for Albus. This was the last day the class would be learning to care for flying creatures. They were moving on next week to water creatures, and with that, meant the last lesson with Goldmore. The beautifulGriffinseemed to have picked up on this, as Goldmore definitely seemed sad. He had his head lowered to the ground, and trailed after Hagrid, reluctantly accepting the food Hagrid offered him.

"As yer all know, this'll be the last lesson we get to spend with Goldmore," Hagrid began. Most of the Slytherine girls looked relieved, but Albus was pleased to see that the rest of the class seemed pretty upset about this. They had all warmed to the griffin, especially Albus.

"So t'day, I jus' want yer to take it in turns to feed 'im, and say your goodbyes. While yer waiting, I want you to all be reading up on mer people, in preparation for next lesson." Hagrid beamed at them, and the class separated into their usual 4 groups.

Hagrid came to the Gryffindor boys third, and Albus was pleased to see that Goldmore was looking a bit more cheerful.

"Hey," Albus said. Goldmore snapped playfully at him. Albus handed the griffin a piece of meat, which Goldmore ate happily.

"I'm going to miss you, you know," Albus said, quietly, looking into theGriffin's black eyes. Albus didn't need to be an expert to tell that Goldmore was saying 'me too'. Goldmore nuzzled into Albus's shoulder, and Albus stroked the great feathered neck.

Albus watched all of the Gryffindor girls saying their farewells to the bird, and Hagrid called them over.

"Hagrid, it's not even halfway through the lesson!" said a confused Rose.

"I've got a surprise for you," Hagrid said, a twinkle in his eyes. "I'm going to let you ride him!" Goldmore lifted his head, and his tail flicked from side to side in excitement.

Albus felt everyone, including himself, shrink back in fear. Feeding and petting the griffin was one thing, but flying was in a totally different league.

"No one wants to?" Hagrid asked, the disappointment in his voice. Goldmore too, looked extremely upset that no one wanted to take him for a fly. His head dropped.

"I will," said Albus loudly, and stepped forward. His own daring had taken him by surprise, and he heard everyone gasp in shock. Albus Potter, the boy who couldn't even handle a broom, was going to take on a griffin?

"Good man, Al!" Hagrid cried, and Goldmore lifted his head, as if to say, 'You? Really?'

"Err… how do I…?" Albus asked. His legs were now shaking, and his knees felt like they were going to give way. _Let's get it over with_, Albus thought.

Goldmore answered by falling into an elegant lying position. Albus swung his leg over, and sat on the griffin's back. Hagrid showed Albus how to position his hands and feet. Albus twisted his fingers together, and squeezed his eyes shut.

Goldmore screeched, and without further ado, took a flying leap into the air. The wings beat furiously, and Albus felt all fear fall away from him. The pair flew up, away from the cheering crowd, and over the forest. Albus could feel the wind rushing through his hair, and theGriffin's warm body beneath him. His spirits soared. This must be the thrill of flying Rose and Scorpius had told him about. Finally, Albus could see what they were saying. Flying really was amazing.

Albus bent low on the griffin, making sure his feet wouldn't scrape the ground as they came to land. Albus felt the bump of landing, and got off Goldmore's back. He hugged Goldmore, silently thanking him, for showing Albus how brilliant flying really could be.

His classmates looked stunned. Albus caught Rose's eye, and winked.

"Who else wants a go?" Hagrid asked, genially. The seven people, including Rose, Scorpius, Lysander and Jardine, all formed a line. The crowd watched on, as each time the griffin took off, and each time the person landed, looking thrilled.

Rose rushed over, pink cheeked and babbling after her go. "He took me over the castle! I saw Dragana, and he waved!" Rose bubbled.

"I prefer brooms," said a windswept Scorpius when he came over after his flight.

"Me too," said Rose, "I can't believe you actually flew, Al!" She put an arm around her cousin and squeezed.

"I much prefer griffin to broom," Albus said, "I mean, I can't control where we go and stuff, but when I'm on Goldmore it feels like less could go wrong. I mean, Goldmore knows what he's doing in the air, where as I know nothing," Albus explained, lamely.

"Well if you learned to fly, you'd know what you were doing. But you won't learn to fly, because you don't know what you're doing, so you'll never learn. It's a vicious circle, isn't it?" Rose laughed.

* * *

><p>"Scorpius, you never told us what your dad said about the letter you send on New Years Eve?" Rose asked, as they left the great hall after their tea. Scorpius looked guiltily at both Rose and Albus.<p>

"He refused to talk about it." Scorpius tried to tell the two that the subject was closed with his voice, but he knew it would be no good.

"Really? That sounds fishy," Rose said, a sly grin on her face.

"Look, let's not go there, okay?" Scorpius said, with a warning look to Rose.

"Oh, but I'm going to go there. I asked my dad, and he told me a few things," Rose said, with a wink.

Both Albus and Scorpius looked at Rose in astonishment. She smiled, and with a regal wave, walked up the staircase. Albus and Scorpius hastened to follow her, and she led them into an empty classroom. She turned to the two boys, as they shut the door.

"Spill," Albus said, firmly, and sat on one of the desks. Scorpius pulled out a chair, and sat down, looking up at Rose with awe on his face. Rose grinned, and leant against the teacher's desk, the sly grin back on her face.

"Okay, but first, don't get angry Scorpius. It seems your dad really was a bad cookie," Rose said, using one of the slang terms she'd picked up from Jardine. Scorpius nodded, and folded his arms.

"Go on!" Albus said, excitedly. Scorpius looked resigned, but listened closely.

"Okay, well, I don't know why Draco wasn't accepting any of Harry's mail, but I do know what this 'debt' is. Dad said that Harry saved Draco's life twice during the Second Wizarding War. First of all, Harry saved Draco from a huge fire that Draco's friend caused. It was a cursed fire, and Draco's friend was casting it so that Draco could take Harry to Lord Voldemort, but it got out of control. Then Harry stunned a death eater who was trying to hurt Draco." Rose looked significantly at the two.

"Really?" Albus said, an astonished look on his face. He looked over at Scorpius.

Scorpius stayed quiet. He had guessed something like this all along.

* * *

><p><strong>"What!" I hear you say, "this is all we get?" Yes, sorry about the shortness of the chapter, but I hope it's sufficiently interesting.<strong>

**And I looked over the first copy of Chapter 9 I posted, and saw so many typoes, I thought I was going to cry. So I edited it a bit, and here is a nicer version. Enjoy!**

**Oh and please review and subscribe :)**


	10. The Marauders Map

**Chapter 10: The Marauders Map**

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><p><em>Professor Marvin Dragana was sat at his desk when the owl arrived. Dragana had taken to eating his evening meal in his office; the teachers were not on good terms with him. Dragana had been asking far too many questions for his own good, and stirring up too much trouble. Despite all the obvious signs of trouble, the teachers simply didn't want to believe that anything might be going on at Hogwarts.<em>

_An owl swept through the open window and landed, neatly on his desk. He thanked the bird, handed it a piece of his chicken, and let it back out of the window. Dragana opened the scroll and read the letter._

Dragana, developments regarding Malfoy's investigations. You must make sure that no one gets up to the corridor - seal it off if you have to. Whoever's hiding in there seems to be planning some very dark business indeed. The teachers may tell you they know nothing about it, but they know how close you are to the Auror office. Send word if you catch anyone going in or out of the Room of Requirement. Especially if it's a Professor. Harry.

_Dragana swore. He threw the fork down onto his plate, with a clatter. This was another letter which brought bad news from his old colleague. Dragana stood up and looked out of the window, hands behind his back, thinking hard. How on earth was he going to persuade Merrigan to let him block off that corridor?_

* * *

><p>As the months passed on, Rose noticed that the teachers were slowly becoming more and more nervous. They had stopped being kind and genial, but snapped and docked points for the littlest things. Rose often saw a huddle of teachers in the corridors, having hushed discussions. Professor Abell and Professor Fay in particular appeared to have lost their minds. Professor Abell had developed a slight twitch, as if he was constantly looking over his shoulder. Professor Fay had started laughing hysterically in lessons, and often looked on the verge of tears. Rose would have been worried for her teachers' sudden loss of sanity, but she had her own problems: exams were approaching, and Scorpius and Albus had done nothing about them.<p>

"I'm going to start revising this weekend," she said, after weeks of hints. The three were walking down to the lake on a warm Thursday afternoon. It was late-April, and the Easter Holidays – which they had spent at school – had finished the Monday before.

"Really? But we've got ages 'til the exams-" Scorpius started to say.

"Actually we've got 5 weeks this coming Monday. I've drawn out revision time tables for you both, because they're practically the same as mine," Rose babbled, "except you've got an extra History slot, Scor, and you've got an extra charms slot, Al."

"Why!" they both cried, outraged.

"Because those are your worst subjects," Rose snapped, "I've got an extra Defence against the Dark Arts slot if that makes you feel any better."

"No," said Scorpius, gloomily. Rose hit him with a book.

"These are really important exams!" Rose exclaimed, but she could tell the boys weren't listening. She gave up and chose a spot for them to sit. She put her bag by the weeping willow, took off her heavy black robe and lay it out. She sat, leaning against the tree trunk, and the boys copied her.

"Shall we get Abell's essay out of the way then?" Rose asked after a moment.

"No!" Scorpius exclaimed, "Give us a moment. It sounds like this is the last free time we'll get, what with you making us revise seven hours a night." Rose hit him again.

Albus sighed. Both of them were right, of course. It would be up to him.

"Well let's just mess around for a bit, then we'll start Abell's essay. We should have it done by dinner, then we can start Fay's charm practise, and we'll be done by eight. Then we can have the rest of the evening off."

The other two agreed. They all sat back, relishing the quiet. The peace. The sound of the lake drifted over to them, and the wind rushed through the tree's bows. Rose saw a bee fly lazily onto a flower, and heard the chirping of a fledgling. Summer was definitely approaching.

"You know," Rose said, coming out of her revelry, "I reckon something fishy is going on at Hogwarts."

"Do you?" Scorpius asked, unconcernedly. Rose knew that Scorpius wasn't a big fan of her and Albus's speculating, but this time was different.

"Let's look at the facts. A girl gets attacked outside the seventh floor corridor. Dragana tries to stop us investigating, and that pretty much proves that there is something there," Rose said slowly.

Scorpius looked impatient, "We know this. But that reached a dead end."

"Harry is sending owls to your father. When do you think that started? Because I'll bet my broom that it was when that girl got attacked," Rose said.

"We know that too," Scorpius said. He rolled his eyes, "We've gone over this ten times."

"And now the teachers are acting strangely, as if they're worried about something."

"Are you saying…?" Albus said, slowly, a twinkle in his eye.

"I am. I think they all must be linked. I think the time has come for some more detective work."

Rose grinned at the two shocked faces. Rose was almost certain that all of these things were linked. It may be a whim, but Rose had a feeling that her Uncle Harry might know something about that room. And Rose's feelings usually turned out right.

* * *

><p><em>Dear Mum and Dad,<em>

_Thanks for your last letter, sorry I didn't reply straight away. School's fine thanks and we're starting our revision on Saturday. Rose is getting pretty frantic._

_I wondered if I could ask you about something. Our friend told us that there is a hidden room up on the seventh corridor. Is it true?_

"No, he won't believe that," Albus said, screwing the letter up and throwing it in the common room fire.

"This is harder than I thought," Rose said. Albus agreed.

"Let's just go to bed. It's half ten!" Albus said, and put away his quill and ink. He and Rose headed up their separate staircases, wishing each other goodnight.

Albus was third into his dormitory, and was just getting under the covers when Stuart and Lysander came in. Albus really liked Lysander, and his twin brother, Lorcan. It was strange that Lorcan wasn't in the same house as Lysander, but that apparently often happened to twins. Albus wondered what it would be like if James was in a different house to him.

Albus sat bolt upright. Of course. Why hadn't he thought of it before? The answer to the existence of the seventh floor room may be sleeping just above him, in the third year dormitory.

* * *

><p>"I've had a brainwave!" Albus said, excitedly, on Friday morning. Rose and Scorpius looked up at him. The two were eating breakfast quietly, trying not to draw attention to the fact that Scorpius was at the wrong table. Rose raised an eyebrow.<p>

"That's unusual," she said. Scorpius laughed.

"We need to find James. He has the Marauders Map. We could look at it, and see if we see if we can see a room up there. Then, we'll know," Albus said, triumphantly.

Rose sprang into action. "Right, I'll go up to the library to find him, and I'll check in the common room on my way."

"You really think James will be in the library? I'll check by the lake, and… oh, he's just over there," Albus said, motioning up the breakfast table. James was there, along with his two best friends, Andrew and Fred, and was talking to their other friends.

Albus got up, and went over to them. Albus was usually quite nervous in front of James's friends, but he didn't really have time to worry about that now. With a confidence which was quite unfamiliar to him, Albus marched over and started talking.

"James, can I please talk to you?" Albus asked. James shrugged and followed Albus out of the hall. Albus could hear Rose and Scorpius coming up behind them. They marched into the entrance hall, and pulled James into a small side room. The room was no bigger than a broom cupboard, and it had no windows.

"Lumos," Scorpius said. Rose did the same and the room flooded with light.

"What's up?" James asked, looking down at the three stern faces.

"James, I, we need to borrow the Marauders Map," Albus said firmly.

"You what?" James said, "How do you-"

"Dad told me. He knows you nicked it." Albus tried to remain patient.

"He knows I-" James said, dumbfounded.

"Yes he does. He told Albus about it when he gave him the invisibility cloak back in October."

"You have an invisi-"

"Keep up!" Rose snapped. Scorpius bit his lip.

"And you want to borrow the map…" James said quietly. The three waited, holding their breaths. James seemed to come to a conclusion, as a wide, wicked smile lit up his face, and he turned to look directly at Albus.

"I'll swap you," he said, excitedly, "the map for the cloak."

"Fine," said Rose. Albus blinked. "Do you want to find out what's in that room or not?" Rose muttered. Albus sighed.

"Fine," he echoed Rose. James grinned.

"Here," he said, pulling out a piece of scruffy old parchment from the inside of his robes, "I'll show you how to work it." Rose, Albus and Scorpius crowded in around James and watched intently.

"First, to see the map, you have to say 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good' and tap it with your wand." James tapped the map once, and to Albus's astonishment, ink started to appear on the parchment. It started at the wand's tip, and snaked out to form rooms, doors, staircases and tiny dots labelled –

"That's us!" Rose exclaimed. Albus looked to where she was pointing, and sure enough, four little dots showed 'Albus Severus Potter', 'Rose Harriet Weasley', 'Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy' and 'James Sirius Potter'. They all stared at themselves.

"To wipe the map – and make sure you do wipe the map – you tap it again and say 'mischief managed'." Albus watched in amazement as his own ink-self seemed to be absorbed into the parchment. Albus stared at the place that had said 'Albus Severus Potter' and gulped.

"So I'll go up to your dorm now and get the cloak Al, cheers," James said, and handed the scruffy piece of parchment to Rose. James sauntered out and with a merry wave, shut the door behind him.

"Crap!" Rose yelped, "We're super late. Dragana's going to kill us!" The three dashed from the side-room and up the marble staircase.

_We have the map_, Albus thought ruefully, _but now we just need a bit of time to read it._

* * *

><p>"Can we go now?" Scorpius asked Rose. The three had started their homework in the library, as Scorpius wasn't allowed in Gryffindor Common Room. It wasn't an ideal place for staging a whispered conversation; the librarian, a decrepit old woman called Madam Pince, kept hitting them with newspapers to get them to be quiet. "It was you who wanted to find out what's up there anyways."<p>

"I want to get my work done," Rose huffed, "I want to pass my exams more than I want to find out what's up there."

"I think you need to sort your priorities, Rosie," Albus said under his breath, as he slaved over his charms essay.

"I think you need to sort yours!" Rose snapped, dipping her quill into her inkpot, refusing to look up at the boys opposite her.

Ten minutes later however, she had finished. Rose permitted Scorpius and Albus to escort her from the library and down to the courtyard. They had found a good place for them to have their private speculations: a small area just beside the courtyard, where a low wall was conveniently placed to be used as a bench. The bushes around the wall meant that no one could see you there from the courtyard, but you could see teachers coming. It also got a good bit of sunlight in the evening, and had a spectacular view of the lake and mountains.

Rose jumped up onto the wall and sat. Albus and Scorpius copied her, and Rose got out the map from her pocket. Albus took the map, and tapped it, saying the magic words.

Albus was still shocked to see himself, Scorpius and Rose on the map, but he moved past it. He, Scorpius and Rose searched the map to try and find the Seventh Floor Corridor until-

"What are you looking at?" said a growl. They turned to see a familiar mane of dark blonde hair, flashing glasses and a scowl. Professor Dragana walked forwards and Albus felt his spirits fall.

"Mischief managed," he whispered to the map.

"What?" Dragana barked.

"Nothing, sir. We're just going to look at this book," Rose said, and to Albus's relief she withdrew a small battered textbook from her pocket.

"Oh, really." Dragana didn't look convinced.

"Yes, sir." Rose said, firmly, looking up into Dragana's disbelieving face. She didn't even flinch under Dragana's scorching look. She kept eye contact with her Professor for at least ten seconds and he regarded them suspiciously. She didn't even blink.

Dragana soon walked away, and Rose turned back to the two boys. Albus was impressed.

"You lie way too well, Rosie," he said.

"Years of practise. 'No mum, I don't know who put Filibuster Fireworks under your chair'." Rose quoted, and Albus laughed.

"Okay, we'll look at the map, and Al, you make sure no one's coming. Especially Dragana." Albus agreed to Scorpius's suggestion. He watched through the bushes as his friends scoured the map.

"GOTIT!" Rose yelped.

Albus turned and looked at the map. He felt an excited glow in his chest; were they about to find out what the seventh floor corridor was hiding?

Apparently not. The corridor had no rooms leading from it. It was just as door-less and empty on the parchement as in real life.

"Damn," Rose said. She looked up at Albus, "It was a really good idea though, Al."

* * *

><p>It was late at night. Albus looked at the map miserably. His one idea, the one stroke of genius had led them nowhere. The curtains were drawn around his four-poster bed, and the tip of his wand gave out the only light in the dormitory. It seemed the thick curtains blocked out most of the light from his wand, as his friends around him slept peacefully. Albus even heard Lysander give a little grunt in his sleep.<p>

He sighed, and Albus turned the parchment over and looked at all the marked dots representing the sleeping school. Nearly everyone was motionless; only the ghosts and the caretaker, Crippen, were moving around the school.

No… wait… Albus rubbed his tired eyes and unfolded the map a bit further. He was sure he had seen an unfamiliar name moving.

There they were. Cassandra Spion was strolling down a corridor on the fifth floor. Albus watched her make her progress. She went up a flight of stairs and was met by-

Albus gasped, and rubbed his eyes again. Now Professor Spion, Professor Abell and Professor Fay were all standing together at the foot of the flight of stairs that lead up to the seventh floor. What on earth were they doing? Albus watched them, a smile on his face. This map was very interesting.

The heads of Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff set off up the winding staircase. Albus followed their progression, with a grin, until he realised where they were headed.

The seventh floor corridor.

Albus watched the three teachers with bated breath. Hardly daring to blink, he watched Professor Spion lead the teachers down the corridor and…

No… Albus must be wrong. His eyes must be lying to him. He rubbed them one last time and looked at the Marauders Map.

The teachers had disappeared. They had turned slightly towards the wall, Professor Spion in the lead, and vanished.

_Through a door to a hidden room where an evil lady lives?_ Albus asked himself. It sounded ridiculous, but that was the only answer.

Albus could remember his Auntie Hermione reading him stories about a muggle detective. He remember sitting up late at night when he was a child, Auntie Hermione reading from a thick old book, about a hero and his friend solving crimes. He remembered every single story and nearly every single thing the detective said. His favourite line: "When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth." This applied here too.

Well, the teachers hadn't disappeared. You can't disapparate in Hogwarts. The map doesn't lie.

_The room definitely exists. _Albus thought. _And you can get in there. All we need to do is find out how. And why the teachers are going in there. And what's inside…or who…_

* * *

><p><em>Harry Potter sat in his office at the Ministry of Magic. He liked the room. It wasn't huge, but it was comfortable. There was a handsome, rosewood desk, a large ornate bookcase, a high backed, comfortable chair and a nice little window. At the moment, the pretend sun was being blocked by dark, artificial clouds. The turbulent clouds echoed Harry's own mood. He was not at all happy today. <em>

_He had to work on a Saturday. His wife was in a towering temper with him. The cat had scratced holes into his dress robes. His daughter had shaved the cat's tail. Harry had shut himself in his office when he had arrived at work, demanded that his secretary didn't disturb him - unless it was urgent, and sunk into his chair. He had been sitting in it for nearly an hour, and Harry had just come to the conclusion that he should probably start doing some work, when Hermione had came in, telling him that she wouldn't be able to come for dinner that night. _

_And now, something else had arrived to dampen his mood. A harassed looking witch came into his office without knocking and said "this stupid bird has been at my desk for nearly an hour. I told him that you didn't want to accept any letters today, but he wouldn't listen." She threw the owl at him and stormed out._

_Harry gritted his teeth and regarded the black and white bird. "Now, what do you want?" he asked it. He recognised it at once as Titus, his son's owl. Titus fixed Harry with a glare, and held out his leg. Harry took off the scroll of parchment, and Titus flew from the office, obviously offended. Harry shut and door behind him and opened the letter._

_It was fairly short, and Harry recognised the small, spiky writing. Albus had written the letter in a hurry, it seemed, as there was ink splattered all over the parchment, and the paper was slightly crumpled. Albus had also apparently made sure that his father would receive it. Titus was an intelligent bird, and Harry wouldn't put it past Albus to tell Titus to deliver the letter directly to Harry._

Dad,

Hi, how are you? Thanks for your last letter, and school is going really well. Rosie is getting hectic about revision, and we're starting today. Don't tell Auntie Hermione that we started this late.

So on Friday, I borrowed the Marauders Map from James, and me, Rosie and Scorpius saw something really strange. On Friday night, I saw Professor Spion leading Professor Abell and Fay up the seventh floor corridor. Then they disappeared.

We know there is a room up there, no point denying that.

The teachers are acting really strangely. I mean, Abell is constantly looking over his shoulder, and Fay won't stop laughing. We wondered whether you thought the fact that those two went into the hidden room and that they have been behaving strangely was linked.

What do you think? And can you tell us anything about the room? It's not like we want to go in there, we just want to know what's in there.

And what was in the letter you sent to Draco's father?

Tell Lily that we met a baby unicorn the other day. She would have loved him.

See you soon.

Love Al

_Harry sighed. He supposed he would have to reply. But there was no way that he was going to tell his son everything. Harry folded up the parchment and put it in his robes' inside pocket. He fished around in his desk for a piece of parchment, and dipped his quill in the ink pot on his desk. The bright purple ink dripped as Harry thought what to say._

_Fifteen minutes later, Harry read over his letter. Yes, that would do nicely. He hadn't told Albus too much, and he hadn't sounded too worried. _

Dear Al,

We're all good at home thanks. Lily shaved Conker's tail, and Mum isn't too happy about it. I'll tell her about the unicorn when I get home. She'll be seething with jealousy.

And about the room. There is a hidden room up there, as you've worked out. It's called the Come and Go room, or the Room of Requirement. I'm not going to tell you how to get in there, and there's no chance trying to find it out from the library. Please stay away from there. There may be something dangerous in there, but it doesn't concern you what so ever. You need to be concentrating on your exams. You know that the muggle-born got attacked outside that room, but it may be an isolated incident.

The fact that your teachers are acting strangely may be nothing to do with the fact they went into the Room of Requirement. I wouldn't worry about it, Al. Concentrate on your exams for now, and before you know it, you'll be back home.

And what ever I sent to Scorpius's father is private. If you really want to know, ask him yourself.

Remember to revise hard, or Auntie Hermione will have a fit.

Love Dad

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you for reading! This chapter took me a lot longer to write than it should have. I don't know why, but I kept reaching dead ends... I should be back to my normal habbits next week.<strong>

**Please review and subscribe. **

**Jennifer Apple**


	11. The Room of Requirement

**Chapter 11: The Room of Requirement**

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><p>Albus, Scorpius and Rose were sitting in the library when the barn owl arrived.<p>

Madam Pince had permitted them to use her quiet library as a base camp for revision, because she liked Rose so much. Rose was a frequent visitor to the library. She had developed a firm bond with the old librarian. Madam Pince believed that Rose was a 'highly intelligent, nice girl', mainly because Rose sometimes offered to help Madam Pince put stray books away. She wouldn't let anyone stay in the library after they had finished their work, apart from Rose and her friends. This annoyed some of the other students, but it was good for Scorpius; he didn't fancy the idea of doing his work alone in Slytherin Common Room.

It was Saturday afternoon, and Scorpius felt raw from the revision he had done. His head was throbbing, his mind teeming with useless and muddled up facts, and he had his head in his hands, massaging his scalp. He had made no progress with History of Magic what so ever. His eyes were dry from reading his notes, and he was sprawled dramatically in a chair, when he heard Rose screech.

"Owl!"

Scorpius groaned and opened one eye, for maximum effect. "I can't read any more," he declared.

"Shut up, you big baby," Rose snapped, and hit him lightly on the leg. Albus and Scorpius laughed. They loved winding Rose up. She never really got very angry – so far. Scorpius sat up and watched Rose take the note from the owl. Albus ushered it back out of the window; they didn't really think Madam Pince would be too pleased if she saw owls in her pristine library. Rose unravelled the parchment and read aloud.

"…or Auntie Hermione will have a fit, love dad," Rose finished. Her eyes were wide with amazement. Albus's jaw had dropped. Scorpius looked excited.

"The Room of Requirement?" Scorpius beamed at them, "I know about that room!"

"What?" his two friends yelped. Madam Pince shushed them and moved on to the next row of shelves.

"Yeah, my dad told me about it when I was a little boy," Scorpius said happily. Rose and Albus still looked shocked. Then suddenly, Rose went very pink and leapt to her feet.

"Why on earth haven't you said anything?" Rose said, and really hit him this time.

"Ouch!" Scorpius cried, and lifted up his hands to his head, where Rose was smacking it with a rolled up piece of parchment.

"All. This. Time. You. Knew!" she said, punctuating each word with a slap to Scorpius's head.

"Rosie, get off him or else he won't be able to tell us," Albus said calmly, and grabbed Rose's arms to stop her hitting Scorpius. Scorpius whimpered slightly as he massaged his face.

"Melodramatic idiot," Rose muttered as she sat down.

Scorpius ignored her. "I haven't said anything because my dad made it out to be a room in my house. I used to wander up and down the corridors in the manor seeing if any huge oak doors would materialise, hiding a toy shop." Scorpius smiled and gazed out of the window. The sun was setting, and it bathed Hogwarts in a golden light. The windows of the next tower glittered and blinked orange as the sun started to dip below the mountains.

"Well, tell us about the room then," Albus said, bringing Scorpius out of his daydream.

"Okay," Scorpius agreed, and started to tell them the story. His favourite story.

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><p>"<em>Daddy, will you tell me the story about the room again?" Scorpius said, sitting by the fireplace in the drawing room. The hearth was huge and ornate, with tiny intricate carvings across the mantelpiece. The fire was burning low, the hot yet peaceful embers glowing red. His daddy was sitting on a high backed, velvet armchair, with a big black book in his hands. Daddy looked over the book and surveyed his son with a twinkle in his eye.<em>

_"Again, Scorpius? But I've surely told you that story three times this week!" his father exclaimed. Scorpius could tell that his daddy was trying to sound cross, but Scorpius knew better. He could see his daddy smiling._

_"Please!" Scorpius said. He could tell that Daddy was going to give in._

_"Oh, alright then!" Daddy declared. He shut the big book and slid off the seat. He crawled over and sat opposite Scorpius on the hearthrug, cross legged. _

_Scorpius could see the red embers reflected in his daddy's pale eyes. Scorpius squirmed with pleasure; he was going to hear his most favourite story again._

_"Once upon a time, there was a little boy called..." Daddy seemed to forget what he was saying, so Scorpius prompted him._

_"Drake," Scorpius said, happily._

_"Yes, Drake. And Drake lived in a big house, a castle. He was a prince you see, and he lived in a big, beautiful castle. There was a lake, mountains and a big forest." Scorpius promptly put his thumb in his mouth. He watched his father's face. Daddy was still staring into the fire. The dark orange light made his blonde hair and pale skin look golden. _

_"But in the kingdom, there was also an evil man. He called himself the Black King, and he wanted to take Drake's kingdom for himself. When the Black King's attempts to take the kingdom failed, he kidnapped Drake's mummy and daddy. Drake cared much more about his family than being a prince, so Drake said that he'd do what the Black King wanted." Scorpius watched his daddy's face. He looked angry that the Black King had been so mean. Scorpius shuffled where he sat. He imagined his daddy being taken away from him. It made him want to cry._

_"So Drake went to the Black King, and asked him what he wanted Drake to do. The Black King said that he had to find a hidden room. And in the room there would be a magic cabinet, and Drake had to fix the magic cabinet, so the Black King could get inside the castle. You see, the knights of the castle didn't know that Draco was doing the Dark Lord's bidding… I mean Drake. They didn't know that Drake's mummy and daddy had been taken by the Black King." Daddy blinked a few times, and looked at Scorpius's scared face. He opened his arms, and Scorpius clambered thankfully into his daddy's lap. He leant back and felt his daddy's arms wrap around him. _

_"But this room which hid the cabinet had lots of other things in it, for you see, it was a magic room. It could hide anything you wanted. In the room there were books, toys, sweets, everything a little prince could want," Daddy tickled Scorpius, and Scorpius giggled, and shuffled on his father's knee. _

"_And the room could also turn into anything you wanted. You just asked it to turn into a… a…" Daddy searched around for something._

"_Broom-shop," Scorpius prompted._

"_A broom-shop," Daddy continued, "and it did. It was a truly magical room. This room was called the Room of Requirement, because it turned into what ever you required it to be." Scorpius didn't know what 'require' meant, but he didn't mind. His daddy was warm and comfortable, and he felt his eyes closing._

"_And, do you want to know a secret, Scorpius?" Daddy asked, squeezing him. Scorpius nodded sleepily. "I too found the Room of Requirement. And it's amazing. It really is." _

_His daddy leant back and forward, rocking Scorpius to sleep. Scorpius tried to stay awake, to listen to his daddy's soft breathing, to smell his soft clothes and peppermint breath…But he soon fell asleep, curled up on his daddy's knee, sitting in front of the fire._

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><p>Scorpius's friends listened to him tell them all about the Room of Requirement in silent shock. Scorpius felt himself getting more and more excited with every word. If the room on the seventh floor corridor really concealed the room… Imagine all the things they could find up there!<p>

Scorpius finished impressively, and looked, in triumph at his friends' shocked faces.

"It'll turn into…anything?" Albus asked, incredulously. His eyes were lit up and Scorpius was sure that he was imagining all the possibilities. Rose too was grinning.

"Well this is amazing!" Rose whispered, "We have to go and have a look!"

Scorpius groaned. More investigating? Scorpius looked at Rose's extatic face, and felt his heart sinking.

"No," Albus said, to everyone's surprise. The light had gone out of his eyes, and he looked firm and resolute.

"But, Al!" Rose moaned longingly.

"Dad doesn't want us to go up there, and I don't want to go up there either. Dad's right. Let's just focus on our exams for now, and maybe afterwards we can go up there." Albus smiled slightly at Scorpius, who looked extremely grateful.

Rose looked betrayed. She got up once more, and packed her books away furiously. She slung the bag over her shoulder, gave a disgusted look to both Scorpius and Albus, and she left the library without another word.

* * *

><p>How Albus got through all his revision, with Rose constantly trying to persuade him to change his mind about visiting the Room of Requirement, he would never know.<p>

Night after night, he and Scorpius slaved over books, trying to remember spells, ingredients and wand movements, with Rose hissing in their ears. It would have been a lot easier if Rose felt like helping them, as she had a knack for making up ways of remembering things; they were particularly impressed with the limericks she created for the forgetfulness potion. However she remained firmly stubborn that she would only spend her time revising on her own, or trying to persuade Albus to change his mind. Albus did not budge.

The exams loomed, and the whole of the school seemed to become gloomy and depressed. Albus passed fourth years studying textbooks, looking forlorn, before going into their exams rooms. He often spotted sixth years testing each other on complicated potions in the common room. The only people who didn't seem worried about the exams were James, Fred and Andrew. They confessed to Albus one night, that they had been spending a lot of time exploring the school under the invisibility cloak, and were therefore too tired to revise.

The day of the first exam, Care of Magical Creatures, was beautiful and sunny. The paper was only an hour long, and Albus felt sure that he had done himself justice. He had been able to fully explain how to tend a salamander if it had a cold, and how unicorns changed colour as they grew older. Scorpius and Rose had not been so sure, and were comparing answers as they walked down to Hagrid's hut.

For the practical exam, Hagrid had brought a concoction of magical creatures and placed them in a row. Each student had to greet the creature and identify what was wrong with it. Albus made friends with each of them, and noticed every single ailment, and even got a bonus point for suggesting how to treat the kneazle's skin infection. Albus walked away from that exam, a huge smile on his face, feeling certain that he had scored full marks.

He only wished that the other exams went as well. He managed to transfigure his hedgehog into a pincushion, but the hedgehog's spine looked suspiciously silver when he turned it back. The charms exams hadn't been so bad, but Albus was sure that he had messed up on the last and most important question. The potions had been abismal; Albus had totally forgotten how to create a hiccoughing solution, and ended up with a runny, dark brown potion, steaming at the bottom of his cauldron. Rose had created the perfect, thick blue mixture, of course.

Defence against the dark arts was excellent for all of them. Dragana gave Albus a satisfied nod when he successfully blocked Dragana's jelly-legs hex. It rebounded, and hit Naomi Atkinson, who wobbled around the classroom for five minutes before Dragana noticed. Scorpius did very well too, and was flushed by his success.

The end of the two week period arrived, and the first years were relieved. Albus felt he had done himself justice, and was looking forward to getting his results.

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><p><strong>Hello everyone! I'm very sorry for the extreme shortness and dullness of this chapter, but I've been working on other things… And I think that the next chapter will be very action packed, so check back soon <strong>

**Review please. So far I've been utterly blown away by all the lovely things you guys have had to say about me. You are all wonderful. **_**Wonderful, **_**I say.**

**Thank you!**

**Jennifer Apple**


	12. Back to Ivy Cottage

**Chapter 12 - Back to Ivy Cottage**

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><p><em>Marvin Dragana walked back up to his office once all of the students had left on the carriages. He hadn't quite finished packing, and although most of his colleagues were going for a drink in the three broomsticks, he had other plans. He was going to a gig later on that day, and he needed to check into the muggle hotel. <em>

Well, not all the teachers_, he thought, as he took down his poster of 'My Chemical Romance'. Arthur Merrigan was planning to stay here over night before he went back to his cottage in Devon, and Lorelle Fay and John Abell too were going to stay at Hogwarts for a while longer, to do some joint research. _Rather them than me, _Dragana thought, as he placed the quills and ink pots into his trunk. This had been a very stressful year, what with trying to keep Merrigan in check, and making sure Potter, Weasley and Malfoy stayed away from the Room of Requirement. He was very pleased the holidays had finally arrived._

_Dragana straightened suddenly. The back of his neck prickled and he looked at the door. He thought he had heard something. After a moment's hesitation, he marched over to the door and threw it open, looking up and down the corridor. There was no one there. The passage was quite deserted. _Must have been Peeves, _he thought, and closed the door again._

_But his hackles were still raised, and his ears pricked. He stayed very still, hardly daring to breath and listened hard. He felt like he was being watched. Dragana turned slowly to face the room again, and to his horror, he realised he had been right._

_John Abell, Lorelle Fay and Arthur Merrigan were all standing in his room, and all had their wands raised. Dragana looked in horror as they slowly started towards him._

_But Dragana hadn't been an Auror for five years for nothing. Quick as a flash, he had withdrawn his wand and sent a red streak at light straight into Abell's chest. He crumpled, but the other two were upon him. He wrenched open the office door and streaked off down the corridor, sending bursts of light behind him. He narrowly dodged a curse, and dashed round the corner, hearing a suit of armour crash behind him._

_Dragana needed a place to hide desperately. Merrigan and Fay knew Hogwarts better than he did so he had no hope of outrunning them. He had to find a place to hide. He knew there was only one place that he could really disappear off the face of Hogwarts, but dare he try? It was dangerous, and if the idea backfired, it backfired very, very badly._

_As a streak of red light shaved his ear, Dragana decided. He did dare._

_He changed course, nipping behind a tapestry which hid a spiral staircase. He legged it up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and burst through an archway. Leaping over a stone step, he ran towards the one place where he knew he could hide._

_The Seventh Floor Corridor._

_Dragana ran down the corridor thinking furiously. _I need a place to hide; I need a place to hide; I NEED A PLACE TO HIDE! _And to his delight, a large ornate oak door materialised before his eyes. Dragana opened the door and slammed it shut, not looking back._

_Dragana took a few steadying breaths and shut his eyes. So his worst fears were true. Abell, Fay _and_ Merrigan had been bewitched. Now he, Draco and Harry had to find out by whom. _

_Opening his eyes, he looked around at the room he had created. It was impossibly dark, and seemingly massive; the click from his boots echoed as he walked forwards. It smelt strange too. Dragana couldn't tell what it was, but it was a familiar smell. It reminded him of campfires and dust._

_"Lumos," he muttered. The room was still completely black, but that was because all the surfaces were covered in a layer of black soot. Most of the items in the room were made totally of charcoal, and piled high into towers like skyscrapers. Dragana walked forward slowly, wondering why the Room of Requirement had created such a strange room in which to hide._

_"Good afternoon, Dragana." Dragana whipped around, raising his wand. His heart was beating fast and his breaths came in frantic pants. That was not a voice he recognised. It was hoarse and rusty, as if it hadn't been used in a long time. It also had a strange accent to it… Eastern European? _

_"Who are you?" Dragana asked the room at large, "Show yourself!" He pointed his wand in every direction, whilst trying to slowly walk backwards to find the door. If he had to choose death by this woman or death by Merrigan, he would choose Merrigan. He at least knew he stood a very good chance against that old idiot._

_The voice laughed a light, carefree laugh which did not suit her dark voice. "I am surprised you do not know, Dragana. You have been trying to find out all about me this year…" Dragana cursed under his breath. They had known she had been hiding in the Room of Requirement, but what had the chances been that he ended up in the same room as her? Dragana felt stupid; he had been out of action far too long._

_"No, we don't know who you are. We have a good idea what you're going to try and do, and what you're already doing. Why bewitch Merrigan, Abell and Fay? They may be great wizards, but they're not too good in action," Dragana said, still looking around. He was close to the door now, he could feel it. He groped into the empty space behind him, trying to seize the handle._

_The voice laughed once more. "Well, congratulations. How did you find out what I have been planning for Hogwarts?" The voice was amused, not angry. Dragana furrowed his brow. _

_"For me to know, and you to find out." Dragana grinned suddenly. He had found the door handle._

_He was just about to pull the door open, when the owner of the voice appeared from behind a charcoal pile, her wand raised. She was tall and pale. Her hair was black and tied up in a knot, but a few straggled tendrils hung about her face. She was impossibly thin, and the dress she was wearing was torn and covered in black charcoal. Dragana thought there was something familiar about her face, but he didn't plan to linger and study it for any longer. _

_He had a plan formulated in his mind. He now knew where she was hiding, and he would have to get out of the castle grounds before apparating directly into Potter's office. Then he'd tell him everything he could, and hopefully have her in custody by the end of the day. _

_Dragana wrenched the door open, but to his horror, he felt himself being thrown up into the air. He spiralled high in the air and landed with a crunch on the stone floor. His wand flew out of his hand and landed ten feet away from him. Again, Dragana felt himself being hurled through the air, and he skidded._

_His head was pounding. That last fall had been particularly painful, and he suspected broken ribs. The woman laughed that sunny laugh again. Dragana could see her bare feet approaching him and she kicked. Dragana accepted the blow to his stomach, and saw the room going hazy because of the pain. Her face loomed in his vision._

"_You are too close to Potter to stay, Dragana," she whispered. "I am sorry you will not be returning to teach at Hogwarts." Dragana tried to open his mouth, tried to speak, anything._

"_Stupefy," the woman said. Dragana fell unconscious. _

* * *

><p>"DAD!" Albus shouted. He ran through the busy train station and seized his father around the waist, pulling him into a tight embrace. Albus ignored all the shouts around him as he held onto his dad.<p>

"Hi, Al!" his dad said, and hugged back. James had reached the family before him, and was hugging Lily and laughing. They all stood there for a moment before Albus realised that Scorpius had come over with his parents Albus stood back and grinned at them all.

"Morning, Potter," Scorpius's dad said, stiffly.

"Hello, Draco," Albus's dad said, a wry smile on his face. Albus looked between the two of them for a moment. The tension was almost unbearable. He turned and hastened to say his goodbyes to Scorpius.

"And I promise to invite you over this summer," Albus assured Scorpius, who smiled.

"You can come over to the manor if you want," Scorpius suggested.

"Sure! I'd like to see where you live," Albus said, and the two looked at each other, not quite knowing how to say goodbye.

Rose ran over, her parents following, and gave Scorpius a hug. Scorpius squeezed back, going slightly pink, and gave Albus a quick hug too. _It was strange, saying goodbye to him_, Albus thought. They had spent the whole year together, and it felt like he was almost a part of his family.

"Bye Scor!" Rose cried, as Scorpius and his parents walked away. He raised a hand in farewell, and the crowd engulfed them.

"We'll see you in a week or so, Harry!" Uncle Ron said, and clapped Albus on the back. Rose waved merrily and followed Hugo and his mum out of the station.

Albus left the train station with his parents and got into the old muggle car. They piled the luggage into the trunk which stretched to accommodate the two large trunks. Albus held the owl-cage by his side, and Lily sat next to him, cooing at the sleeping owl. The car seat stretched to the size of a large sofa as James got in car too. Their dad winked and ignited the engine.

The drive home was fairly long, but they had plenty to talk about. James entertained them all with stories about his many escapades with Fred and Andrew. Albus's mum looked like she wanted to tell James off, but she couldn't help smiling when James explained how the managed to hide fireworks under Neville's chair. Lily was insistent on asking every single little detail about day to day life at Hogwarts. "What do you eat for breakfast?" she asked both Albus and James. "What time do you go to bed?" was another.

In seemingly no time at all, (Albus suspected that if they had been in a completely normal muggle car it would have taken a lot longer to get home) they arrived at Godrick's Hollow. They continued out of the village until they reached their little home on the outskirts, called the Ivy Cottage.

The house was far too small for the Potters, seeing as they seemed to always have friends and family over to stay. Albus sometimes heard his mum and dad deliberating whether they should move into their house in London permanently. Number twelve Grimmauld Place was a home for dad when he needed to be close to work, and it was a lot larger than the Ivy Cottage. Sometimes they had spent Christmases there.

But Albus loved the Ivy Cottage. He loved the way that the front of the house was covered in deep green leaves, and the huge garden surrounding it. He loved the forest nearby too, and the little stream that ran past the house, and the low stone bridge. Honeysuckles climbing up the garden fence made the air smell sweet in summer, and brought buzzing bees and fluttering butterflies. The gravel driveway was hidden by three great oak trees, which gave the house the privacy it needed, what with young wizards learning how to fly in the back garden. Albus woke every morning to the cheeping of birds coming from these trees, and he wouldn't exchange it for the world.

Albus got out of the car and watched his mum and dad levitate the luggage inside. Lily ran after her parents, laughing in delight at the trunks flying in the air. Albus heard James whooping and saw him do a couple of cartwheels on the soft grass. Albus let Titus out of his cage, and he fluttered onto Albus's shoulder.

It was good to be home.

* * *

><p>"Dad, can I talk to you?" Albus asked. His father was sitting in his study, his head in his hands, staring blankly at a piece of parchment.<p>

"Yeah, sure Al," his dad said, and motioned to the seat next to his desk. Albus sat down and looked around.

The office was a tip, as usual. Pieces of parchment littered the desk and floor, the bin nearly full of crumpled up piece of paper. The floor lamp let out a soft yellow glow upon the furniture. The pine desk was gleaming and the four chairs in the room looked comfy and inviting. The fire flickered merrily in the grate.

The walls of the office were lined with oak bookcases. On the higher shelves sat old spell books, containing advanced magic and potions. Some of the shelves housed muggle books and novels. Albus recognised 'Sherlock Holmes', his childhood favourite, bound in dark brown leather on a shelf near him. The rest of the space was reserved for photographs. Albus recognised a few of his grandparents, who he had never met, and some of his dad when he was a school boy. There was one in a little silver frame of a group of people, signed 'The Order of the Phoenix,' and Albus recognised another depicting an old man with a long silver beard. Albus Dumbledore, his namesake, looked out of the picture with piercing blue eyes.

"What's up, Al?" his dad asked, putting his quill down and looking down at his son. Albus withdrew his gaze from Dumbledore and looked up at his dad.

"Umm, it's about the Room of Requirement…" Albus hesitated, waiting to see if his dad would mind talking about it. Harry closed his eyes briefly then nodded.

"You've found out all about it, then? And come to your own conclusions about what it's hiding?" Albus looked in shock at his dad. "Yes, I thought you would find out all about it. How did you manage it?"

It took Albus a moment to register what his father was saying. "Scorpius knew about it. His dad told him when he was little." Albus watched his dad rub his tired eyes with his finger tips and chuckle.

"I should have expected it." His dad looked down at Albus and smiled.

"Who is hiding up there, dad?" Albus asked. He had voiced the one question that had been spinning, half formed in his mind. He hadn't even asked his friends this question. The possibility that there was someone dangerous in the Room of Requirement had been on the fringes of his mind for a while now, and although Rose and Scorpius hadn't seemed to put two and two together, Albus had. "There must be someone hiding up there, dad. Victoria Baker didn't get knocked out by some freak accident. Can you tell me anything?" Albus looked up at his dad, hopefully.

Harry sighed. "You know as much as we do now." Albus felt his heart sinking. So there was a danger at Hogwarts, and someone was behind it. "But let me tell you this," his father continued, "You are all safe at Hogwarts. Neville Longbottom is more than capable of looking after you all, and so long as Dragana is keeping an eye on the other teachers, you should all be fine. We know there is someone up there; we just need to know where she's hiding, and what she's asking the room to be. Also, we can't go barging in there in case she takes one of the children hostage. It's a very tricky situation, especially when we don't know which teachers to trust."

"The teachers?" Albus quickly asked, "Do you think that the teachers acting strangely has something to do with it?" Albus saw his father swallow.

"Yes. I do," Harry said, in a lowered tone, "but I don't want you to talk to your friends about this, Al. Especially not Rose, she's one of the nosiest children I know," Harry sighed, "Promise me, Albus."

Albus looked up into the green eyes of his father. They were full of worry and doubts, but they shone with a fatherly love.

"I promise, dad," Albus said.

* * *

><p><em>Harry watched his son leaving the room and shut the door quietly behind him. Harry loved his children more than anything in the world. <em>

_James was boisterous and troublesome, always on the go and constantly laughing. He had mahogany hair and freckles dusted his nose. His hazel eyes were always lit with joy, or some wicked prank he had planned. James was just like his grandfather, Harry had been told. _

_Lily was extremely bright, and was unbelievably inquisitive. She looked just like her mother, with bright red hair and light brown eyes. Lily appeared extremely innocent, what with all her questions, but Harry knew that Lily had a mischievous side. Harry had been on the receiving end of many of Lily's pranks, as had the cat. Conker's tail had never been the same since Lily shaved it._

_Albus was unlike his brother and sister. Albus's green eyes and black scruffy hair were individual to him. Harry saw a lot of himself in Albus, both physically and characteristically, even if Albus didn't want to believe it. He was thoughtful, kind and fair, things that Harry valued in himself. Albus was curious too, a virtue that Harry only knew too well._

_And now Albus's curiosity had brought him to know all of the things Harry had been trying to keep from him. Harry furrowed his brow as he thought over his conversation with his son. Harry was worried for his family's safety, especially now that Albus had shown that he was nearly as nosey as his cousin._

_Harry tried again at the letter he had been composing for the past hour. He looked mournfully at all the pieces of parchment in the waste paper bin as he dipped his quill into the ink pot._

Dear Draco,

I have a feeling that we may be in trouble. Dragana has not replied to my recent three owls. He was supposed to give us an update on the last day of the school term but I have not heard from him in all week. Have you received word?

And the children know as much as we do now, which I think is a good thing. If we keep them informed, they won't take it upon themselves to find out more. I appreciate that Scorpius is not likely to want to go looking for trouble, but Albus and Rose are.

I think if we hear from Dragana about anything suspicious once the school year starts, we shut down the school straight away. If what we suspect is right, muggle borns will not be safe.

Harry

_Harry sighed as he read over the letter. That would have to do. It was getting late. He went up to Albus's room, letter clutched in hand and attached it to Titus. Titus gave a lazy 'hoo' and flew out of the window._

_Harry watched the letter fly away and felt worry grow in his chest. _Why wasn't Dragana replying to his owls?_ Harry wondered. _Were his worst fears true?

* * *

><p><em>Al,<em>

_How are you doing? Holding up alright? The Manor is boring as hell, but we've only got another five weeks until it's back to Hogwarts!_

_My dad has invited you and your parents for tea on the 30__th__ July. He wants you all to come around at 7.30, and it's okay if you want to stay for a week. _

_Please send reply with Althea. She hasn't had a letter to deliver in ages._

_Scorpius_

"Mum! We've been invited to dinner at the Malfoy's!" James said, rushing down the stairs ahead of Albus.

"Hey! You read my letter from Scorpius?" Albus asked indignantly.

"Yeah, that owl hooing at god-knows-what-time-in-the-morning woke me up, so I went to see what was wrong." James shrugged and handed the letter that Albus hadn't seen yet to his mother.

Ginny took the letter and unfolded it, reading the words quickly. "How lovely. I'm sure we can make it. Send Althea back, Albus, and yes, you can stay at the manor for the week," Ginny said, and Albus jumped in the air with excitement.

He ran upstairs and grabbed a piece of parchment and attacked it with a biro.

_We'll be there at 7.30, and I can stay the week. See you soon!_

He attached the letter to Althea and walked out of his room, carrying the little owl, with the idea of getting her a snack before she went on her long journey.

"Dinner at Malfoy Manor?" Albus heard his father's voice float up the stairs, as Albus shut the door behind him.

"I've told Albus we can go, but do you think we should, Harry?" Albus's mother's voice sounded worried. Albus screwed up his brows and hovered by the banister, eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Yes, why not? We're not doing anything on the thirtieth," Harry said.

"But he's a Malfoy…" Ginny said. Albus felt a bubble of anger burst within him. Again with this whole Death Eater idea. Albus and his dad knew that the Malfoys were not evil, but his mother still seemed to be prejudiced. Albus wondered exactly what Scorpius's family had done all these years ago.

"Yes, but we've been through this. He's working for me now. Spying on the underground Death Eaters is a very dangerous job, a huge personal risk. Like Snape before him, he is as much as a Death Eater as Albus Dumbledore."

Albus stood in shock. Scorpius's father was working for his father? As a spy?

His mind was seething with information.

He needed to sit down.

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><p><strong>Hello folks! Long time no write! Sorry for the lack of chapters this past week, but I've been immersed in my other story. This may be fairly short, but I think you'll agree that it's fairly interesting.<strong>

**Please review.**

**Jennifer Apple**


	13. Dinner at Malfoy Manor

**Chapter 13: Dinner at Malfoy Manor**

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><p>"Ready to go?" James asked, as he rushed past Albus's room. Albus looked doubtfully at his bag of clothes he would be taking to Scorpius's for the next week.<p>

"No," Albus said, "can I borrow your sleeping bag?"

"You're staying at a _manor_, Al. You won't need a sleeping bag," James said, but went to get one all the same.

Albus ran through the list of items in his mind. Toothbrush? Check. Underwear? Check. Wand? Check. The rest he could borrow if he forgot it. He slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out his room small room, closing the door quietly behind him. He felt the sleeping bag hit his side as James threw it. James rushed past him and slid down the stair's rail. Albus stooped and picked up the sleeping bag.

His mother joined him on the landing, wearing her favourite pale gold dress and a white flower in her dark red bun. She came over to Albus and with a small smile, attempted to flatten down his hair. Albus grimaced; she had no chance. His father was at the bottom of the stairs, holding Lily's hand, who was wearing a blue-green dress and silver shoes. James too was standing next to his father. His messy auburn hair had been attacked with a wet comb, and was lying flat on his head.

"Floo powder?" Lily asked, and smiled nervously.

"Yes. We should go now, it's almost half past. We don't want to be late," Ginny said from the top of the stairs. She gave Albus a small kiss on the forehead and walked down the stairs. Harry lead the way into the living room and they all stood in front of the fire nervously. Albus felt the heavy weight of his bag on his shoulders, but had a light heart. He was very excited about staying with Scorpius.

"Okay, who wants to go first?" Harry asked, looking around at the family.

When no one volunteered, Ginny stepped forwards. She put her hand into the bag of floo powder that Harry offered her, and stepped into the hearth.

"Malfoy Manor!" she cried out, and was whirled away in a blur of green flames.

James took his mother's absence to mess up his wet hair again, and accepted some floo powder from his father, and the sleeping bag from Albus. He too spun out of sight, his dark blue travelling robe swirling. Harry and Lily went together, leaving Albus to follow them.

He took his handful of floo powder, and stepped into the hearth. He felt the flames licking his feet, and didn't feel burning. It was more like he had just stepped into a warm pool of water. Albus looked back into the small living room, then threw the floo powder into the grate.

"Malfoy Manor!" he cried, and was whisked away from the Ivy Cottage. Thousands of wizarding fireplaces flew by, and Albus kept spinning, getting dizzier and dizzier. He closed his eyes, feeling his stomach lurching. Eventually, after what seemed a decade, Albus felt himself coming to a stop.

He threw out his hand to steady himself, and opened his eyes. Albus looked around and saw his parents and siblings standing in the hall of Malfoy Manor. The room was large and grand, with ornate carvings on the tall walls. The staircase was made of a dark mahogany wood, and it too was sculpted with intricate patterns. Albus thought they looked like trees and flowers, but they could also easily be snakes. The floor was stone, and a beautiful Persian rug was thrown in front of the fireplace. The candles on the walls flickered merrily, and lit his parents' smiling faces. Albus stepped into this magnificent room, and walked over to his mum.

Harry was shaking hands with a tall man, with white blonde hair and a pointed chin. He was extremely pale and had big grey eyes, which were startlingly familiar.

"And this is Albus?" Mr Malfoy asked, in a curt voice, looking over at him. Draco's stern expression made Albus feel intimidated. Albus thought he looked cold and formidable. He shrunk a little under the freezing look Mr Malfoy was giving him.

"Yes, this is Al," Harry said, apparently unconcerned with the lack of warmth from Draco, "And this is James and Lily," motioning to the two children by his side. Draco nodded and suddenly smiled. The smile made an astonishing difference to his face. Charming laughter lines appeared around his eyes, and the great grey orbs lit up. He suddenly didn't look as scary anymore, and Albus could imagine him being a father.

"ALBUS!" A voice yelled. Albus saw a blur of blonde hair and felt himself being rugby tackled.

"Scorpius!" Albus said, and grinned.

"Hello," said a misty voice, and they all turned around. A beautiful woman was walking down the staircase. She had dark brown hair, pale skin and was wearing a black evening dress. This must be Scorpius's mother.

"Hello! Nice to finally meet you," said Ginny, genially. Ginny and Astoria were completely different. Ginny's golden dress was modest and plain, and her freckled skin showed obvious signs of age. Her hair was a little messy from the floo powder, and the lines on her face deepened as she smiled. But Ginny appeared kind and bouncy, full of love and fun. Her eyes were twinkling and she was emanating infectious warmth. Astoria, on the other hand, looked like a porcelain doll. Her curly brown hair was perfectly curled, her long black dress perfectly positioned and her expression perfectly cool. The pink flush on her cheeks looked almost unnatural, as did the large eyelashes. Albus knew that she was the same age as Ginny, but she looked like she could easily be ten years younger.

"We'll be eating outside, seeing as it's such a nice night," Draco said, cordially, and lead them through a grand drawing room, into an even grander dining room and out through a double door onto a porch. The table had been taken from the dining room and eight chairs were placed around it. The candles on the tables let out a soft glow, and there were lanterns hanging from the wall of the mansion.

They all took their seats. Draco sat at the head of the table, and Astoria sat next to him. Harry sat on the other side of Draco, and Ginny sat next to Harry, still giving off an overwhelming sense of warmth. The children arranged themselves in an order that meant that no one was sitting without a family member next to them, Albus finding himself at the opposite end of the table to Draco Malfoy.

A tiny house elf brought out bowls of hot soup, and they all sat for a while, eating quietly. They all engaged themselves in different conversations. Astoria and Ginny were talking animatedly about their children's escapades at school, and Albus heard his name being mentioned several times. Draco and Harry were talking about work, but it was hard to tell, as Lily, Scorpius and James were shrieking about Quidditch.

Next, a course of roast chicken was set down before them, and Albus enjoyed Astoria telling him, Lily and Scorpius all about the dragons she had encountered when she went hiking one day. Albus was genuinely fascinated when Astoria told him all about their flying patterns and eating habits; she too loved animals.

By the time their pudding of strawberries and cream had disappeared, they were all feeling very full and rather sleepy. Draco offered Harry a drink, and the adults went off into the drawing room. James, Lily, Albus and Scorpius sat awkwardly at the table for a moment.

"Do you want to come and see where we'll be sleeping, Al?" Scorpius asked.

"Sure," Albus said, and they left the table. James and Lily followed the two friends through the huge house, and up a flight of stairs. Scorpius pushed a door open, and Albus peered inside.

"This is my room, but it's a bit small for both of us," Scorpius said. Albus got a fleeting view of a large window, dark blue walls and a light-wood desk, before Scorpius shut the door again.

He led them down the hallway a couple of steps forward and pushed open another door. "This is the bathroom we'll be using," he said, and Albus looked into a white-tiled room with a single great bath, a toilet and a modest sink. A beautiful mirror hung over the sink, reflecting the plush white towels hanging on a couple of golden pegs. Scorpius shut the door and turned around, facing the opposite wall.

"And this is the room we'll be sleeping in, seeing as it's got two beds, and it's not infested with boggarts and spiders," Scorpius laughed, and led them into the room.

The bedroom was immaculate. Two single beds were made with white sheets; the four walls were plastered with white and cream patterned wall paper and the white armchair in the corner looked comfy and inviting. The floor was carpeted in a dark green which matched the curtains hanging over the small window. There was a single dresser and a small vanity table which were made in dark wood. Albus's bags had already been brought up to the room, and his clothes had been put away.

James had his mouth open in shock and Lily looked like she was going to burst with envy. "This room is about the size of our living room," James said, and sat on one of the beds. Scorpius looked embarrassed.

"Can I stay here too?" Lily asked, and sat on the other bed. Scorpius's cheeks went a deep magenta. Albus laughed.

"Are you kidding? I'm only staying here to get away from you, Lily," Albus joked.

"Don't worry, Lils, we can just have some building work while Albus is away. When you come back, Al, your room will be gone, and mine and Lils's will be twice their normal size," James said. Albus laughed.

* * *

><p><em>While Scorpius showed Albus their room, the adults had split into two groups. The two mothers were having an innocent conversation about life without their children at home, the initial dissimilarities between the two completely disregarded. The two Ministry of Magic workers watched them, holding a glass of red wine in their hands.<em>

_"They seem to be getting on well, don't they?" Harry asked, looking up into Draco's face. Draco nodded, and looked at Harry._

_"Astoria told me that Ginny once hexed her in the corridor, but that seems to have been forgotten," Draco remarked. Harry laughed._

_There was an uncomfortable silence between the two. Harry knew that Draco did not like him, even though they were working together, and he didn't feel comfortable sharing small talk with his old rival. The only thing the two had in common was work, and their participation in the Second Wizarding War, something they both didn't want to talk about._

_"Have you heard from Dragana?" Harry asked, softly. Draco flinched and grimaced._

_"No," he sighed, "not for five weeks now."_

_"I haven't heard from him for two," Harry confessed, "he was supposed to report to me three times, and he hasn't made those appointments. Harry watched his wife nodding frantically at Astoria's words and taking a sip of red wine._

_"Do we assume the worst has happened?" Draco asked, sipping his drink too. Harry nodded slowly._

_"We do. I'm afraid that Hogwarts is no longer a safe place. Spion is working for the other side, as we know from your eavesdropping on Goyle and Parkinson, and I think we can presume that she is the one who has bewitched Merrigan, Abell and Fay," Harry sighed, "And now Dragana is missing. He is far too close to the Auror office, you see, and I'm going to have to assume that he has been taken by whoever is instructing Spion."_

_"And you're sure that whoever is controlling Spion is in the Room of Requirement?" Draco asked, astonished. _

_"Positive," Harry replied. Draco drained his glass, and Harry copied._

_"Well, is it wise to let Hogwarts re open?" Draco asked._

_"Probably not. But Hogwarts is safe for now, and there's always Neville. If Dragana is gone, then they'll be looking for a new teacher…" Harry looked at Draco slyly._

_"What are you suggesting?" Draco said._

_Harry said nothing. _

"_No. Oh no. Not a chance," Draco said, realising what Harry was thinking. The idea was half formed in his mind, but it felt like a stroke of genius. They needed another man in Hogwarts. Why not Draco?_

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><p><strong>Chapter 13, supposed to be unlucky, and it is for Draco! Haha!<strong>

**Please review, and thank you for reading**

**Jennifer Apple**


	14. Diagon Alley

**Chapter 14: Diagon Alley**

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><p>"Morning!" said a sunny voice. Rose squinted in the bright light as her mother pulled open the curtains. She sat up and looked around the unfamiliar room. She was staying at Shell Cottage with her family, in order to spend a bit more time with Bill, Fleur and their children, who had been in France for the past two weeks. It was the last day here, and they were leaving that evening to go to the Burrow.<p>

"Mon Dieu, C'est trop tôt!" cried Dominique, "_My God, it's too early!_" She rolled over, hiding her face from the morning sun. Rose and Dominique were sharing this room, while Hugo and Louis were in the other. Victoire was allowed to stay in her room, but that was just because she had recently been accepted into the Ministry of Magic, and had lots of work to do.

"Tu _es_ une fille paresseuse, ma chère," said a familiar voice from the doorway, "_You _are_ a lazy girl, my dear._" Aunt Fleur, the beautiful-blonde-veela, came in too, and pulled the covers off Dominique. Rose laughed as Dominique cried out in protest.

"Maman!" she cried.

"We need to be up and breakfasted in half an hour, we're late enough as it is!" Hermione said, and tickled Dominique's little feet. She kicked lazily at her aunt and rolled over. She grabbed one of her pillows put it over her as a substitute blanket, and fell back to sleep.

"What are we doing today, mum?" Rose asked, getting out of bed as Fleur left.

"Going to London. The book lists have arrived," Hermione said, and left.

Rose dressed slowly, choosing jeans and a muggle t-shirt she had received for her birthday a couple of months ago. When Rose was fixing her frizzy hair into a single plait, Dominique finally got up too. Rose was jealous of the Weasley-Delacour family, especially her older female cousins.

Victoire was so clever: twelve outstanding OWLs, prefect, head girl, five outstanding NEWTs, and now a job in the Ministry of Magic's department for International Cooperation as a translator. She was also imperiously beautiful, with the classic long-blonde-hair and big-blue-eyes. Rose's eyes too, were big and blue, but they could never compete with the quality of Victoire's pupils, which were scattered with little grey specs which looked like stars. And Victoire had been born on Valentine's Day, how perfect was that?

Dominique was witty, funny and extremely popular. She had lots of friends from both Hogwarts and Beaubatons, as she had been schooled at both. She may not be as clever as her sister, but she still had passed every single OWL she had taken, and had been awarded prefect last year. She was even prettier than Victoire, in her own way. She was more approachable, with a girl-next-door kind of look. Her strawberry blonde hair was wavy and soft, and always perfect. Dominique's dusting of freckles made her look cute and mischievous, whereas Rose's made her look like a baby.

Rose could never hope to compete with such beautiful, clever girls, or even the rest of her cousins. It's not like Rose was stupid or unpopular. Rose was good at everything. "Lovely-little-above-average-Rose". But it would be nice to be _outstanding_ at something.

Every one of Rose's cousins would be remembered for something they were _outstanding_ at. Albus would be remembered for his skill with animals. Victoire would be remembered for being unbelievably clever. James and Fred would be remembered for being brilliant at flying, and their amazing pranks. Molly will be remembered for being able to quote Shakespeare at every opportunity. Roxanne would be remembered for her Quidditch prowess… Rose didn't want to be remembered at "above-average-Rose".

Rose wanted very badly to be as good as the rest of her family, or even better. But with a family so diverse and so brilliant, how could she ever get her deepest wish?

Rose sadly walked down the rickety staircase at Shell Cottage, and automatically raised her hand to touch the wind charm that hung by the window. It tinkled sweetly, making Rose's dark mood suddenly brighten. That charm had been at Shell Cottage as long as she could remember. When Rose was little, she used to jump to try and reach it, and as she grew older, the easier it had become. Rose was still incredibly short though, and she had to raise her hand all the way to touch it, whereas Albus could almost hit it with the top of his head.

Everyone in the kitchen looked up as Rose entered. Most of the family were sitting around the table, eating French toast, but Dominique and Victoire weren't up yet. Uncle Bill's scared face was hidden behind a Quibbler, and Rose's mum was reading a Daily Prophet.

"Nearly ready to leave?" Rose's dad asked, his mouth full of eggy bread. Rose nodded with a grin. She accepted a plate from her Aunt with a "merci," and began to eat.

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><p>An hour later, they were all arriving in the fireplace of the Leaky Cauldron. Hannah Abbot, a family friend, waved merrily from behind the bar. She lifted a flagon of butter beer, and cocked her head to one side, as if asking if they wanted a drink.<p>

"No thanks!" Rose's mum mouthed.

Rose had noticed that their appearance had caused quite a stir in the busy pub, but that was only to be expected; both of Rose's parents were on the chocolate frog cards, for heaven's sake. A couple of young witches came bobbing over, shaking Rose's parents' hands, smiling happily. An old man sitting on a stool by the fire, watched Rose and Hugo, a huge smile on his face and tears in his eyes. A little red-haired boy ran up to Ron, grinned broadly, gave him a high five, and then ran back to his mother, a triumphant glint in his eyes.

They left the pub and walked into the familiar alley behind the club. It was extremely crowded in the alleyway, so Rose couldn't see her uncle tapping the wall with his wand, or the archway appearing.

Rose grinned. Diagon Alley had revealed itself, and it was as amazing as ever.

They had to head up to Gringotts first, and they walked down the busy street. Rose wished she had eight more eyes. There were shops selling thousands of books, bound in dark leather, decorated with gold letters. There were shops selling brooms, with crowds of little children outside, all staring at the latest release. There were shops full of animals with the sound of owls squawking, cats yowling and frogs croaking coming from behind their doors

Gringotts didn't take long, and their moneybags were soon full to the brim with big shiny coins. Rose and Hugo were given a whole five galleons each to spend on whatever they desired. Rose suddenly felt very greedy. She wanted to go into every shop, look at every item and purchase all she could.

The family instantly split up into different groups. Bill, Hugo and Louis made their apologies and headed straight for the closest broom shop, where a gaggle of children were staring in through the window at the Firebolt 7. The Firebolt 7 had been released into the shops three days ago, and it you couldn't even buy it yet. This model was supposed to be able to go three hundred miles an hour, but that was just a rumour.

Hermione, Victoire and Aunt Fleur offered to go and buy everyone's books, and headed off down the street in search of Flourish and Blotts. That was Hermione's favourite shop. Hermione spent most of her time when she was in Diagon Alley brushing her fingertips over the shelves, trying to buy every book in the shop. Victoire declared that she needed to buy some new parchment and disposable quills, so the three women offered to go and replenish everyone's supplies after they had finished buying the books.

That left Ron, Dominique and Rose to get the rest of the supplies. Ron scrutinised the list he had been given by Hermione, and they began their shopping.

Rose had spent the whole day wondering in and out of shops, following Dominique. They bought new robes, potions ingredients and animal supplies for everyone. After they had finished, they all met up at the ice cream parlour, and Ron bought Rose her favourite 'chocolate thunder' ice cream sundae.

They had seen lots of people they knew that day. They had bumped into Dennis and Holly Creevy and their son Colin in the Eeylops Owl Emporium, and had a long discussion about the surprise birthday party Grandma Weasley had been planning for Uncle Harry and Neville. They also saw Cho buying her daughter Cedrica's first Hogwarts robes in Madam Malkin's. They didn't stop to chat, as the mother and daughter looked rather harassed. Ron spoke to a tall man called Justin with his Indian wife, Padma, who was twin sisters with the healer at Hogwarts. Rose and Dominique chatted away to Justin and Padma's daughter, Laura, who was in the same year as her, but in Hufflepuff.

Lots of people Rose didn't know greeted her father too. Ron started getting rather irritated at the constant interruptions, but Rose knew that Ron secretly loved being in the limelight. Dominique too spent a lot of the day exclaiming in delight and running over to one of her many friends.

For some, the constant attention may have been overwhelming, but Rose loved it.

* * *

><p><em>Cassandra Spion closed her eyes, and lounged in her chair. She was tired. She was hungry. She was fed up. Her sister had been complaining at her all day, and Spion needed a break. So many years ago, when she had taken the potions master post at Hogwarts, Spion had hoped she wouldn't have to put up with her sister anymore, but she had been wrong. <em>

_Spion got up and walked through the corridors of her home. The walls were made of stone at first, as she had residence in the dungeons. As she went up the stairs, the corridors became grander and grander, until there were majestic tapestries adorning the walls, and shining suits of armour. Of course, Hogwarts wasn't her only home. She had had one other, which had been in a place far away from the old castle. She didn't usually think about the tiny wooden hut in the mountains, but she couldn't help it sometimes. It was so different to this place, the complete opposite._

_She reached her destination, and walked up and down the seventh floor corridor. _I need the place where everything is hidden_, she thought. The huge beautiful oak door formed, and Spion walked through it. The mysteries of the Room of Requirement no longer astonished her, but it was still wonderful to watch._

_The dark, charcoaled place was no longer terrifying to Spion either. She had spent the whole of the last schooling year wandering around it, to the beck and call of _Her._ Spion would do anything for _Her_. _

_She was most definitely Spion's mistress. _

"_Cassie, what have you to report?" said her mistress's voice in Spion's mother language, Russian. She was hidden from Spion, as usual, but Spion knew her Mistresses face very well. The big eyes, small lips and tall skinny body of her Mistress had haunted her childhood, and haunted her nightmares today._

"_Our advert has had a response," replied Spion in Russian too, "Draco Malfoy has offered to take my old post as Potions master." Spion smiled secretly to herself. Spion hated teaching potions._

"_Draco Malfoy?" the voice said, "is he aware of my presence here?"_

"_No," Spion said._

"_Well, he was a Death Eater. He shall be a useful addition to our ranks. You are the only person who is any real use to me. Except for helping to keep me a secret, three imperiused teachers are no help. Crabbe, Goyle and Nott are not exactly geniuses either. Draco Malfoy will be a godsend." Spion felt herself swelling in pride for the praise her Mistress gave her._

"_I will make Merrigan reply to Malfoy, accepting his application," her Mistress said, thoughtfully, "but he is not up to much. The curse is sending him quite mad; it has been on him for almost a year now. He should be up for the welcoming speech, but we shall not need him after that. We might as well dispose of him."_

_Spion nodded in agreement. Spion couldn't see her Mistress, but Spion knew that She could see her. _

"_Cassie," her mistress purred. Spion felt herself shiver with both pleasure and disgust. "We're going to have to do something about Longbottom." Her mistress revealed herself. Her long legs were still covered in little red cuts, her dress was still ripped and her body was still covered in charcoal. She still gave Cassandra Spion chills down her spine, even though she had known her since she was a baby._

"_I know, Elizaveta. But we'll have to wait until school starts again. We only have a month to wait."_

"_Cassie, you've done so well. I'm very proud of you, little sister," Elizaveta said. Cassandra Spion shivered._

_Elizaveta turned, her ripped dress whipping around, and pointed her crooked wand ahead of her. She stalked through the room, her tall figure disappearing into the blackness of the room._

"_So, Dragana, you have been replaced. Cassandra Spion will teach Dark Arts to your students, and Draco Malfoy will join me. Hogwarts does have a single hope," Elizaveta said in her broken English. Cassandra smiled, and turned to leave._

_The door slammed shut behind her, but Cassandra could still hear her sister torturing her old colleague, and his screams. _

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><p><strong>Dun dun dun! <strong>

**So, this chapter, if you haven't noticed, was about explaining Rose's relationship with her cousins, and Rose's attitude to her parents fame. It was also a good opportunity to name the scary-Russian-lady: Elizaveta. **

**Please review. Thanks Verry muchies!**

**Jennifer Apple **


	15. Eavesdropping on Death Eaters

**Chapter 15: Eavesdropping on Death Eaters**

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><p><em>Harry was sitting in his office when the owl came. She swooped in through the open window with a letter clasped in her claws. Harry opened the letter with feverish excitement but felt his heart sinking when he saw it was Draco's handwriting. He still hadn't heard from his old friend and colleague, and he had now come to accept that Dragana had been taken. <em>

_"Hey Althea," Harry greeted Scorpius Malfoy's little owl as she pecked his fingers. _

_He read the untidy scrawl with his tired eyes._

_'_Potter,  
>Just got the reply from Merrigan. I have been accepted to teach Potions, not Defence. Cassandra Spion has left her post as Potions Master – perhaps she's truly innocent of bewitching Abel and Fay. Do we know anything about Cassandra Spion? Could she have been taken with Dragana? I will await your owl,<br>Malfoy.'

_Harry furrowed his brow, picked up a quill and began his reply._

_'_Draco,  
>No, I know nothing about Spion, but the few pieces of evidence we have about her points to her being behind Abel's and Fay's odd behaviour. I shall seek Neville Longbottom's opinion of her, and anything he may know.<br>Harry.'

_Harry tied the letter to the little owl and she immediately flew out of the window. Harry closed his eyes and thought. He was tired. He was overworked. He wanted to go to bed very much, but he had to think this whole business through thoroughly._

_He repeated the argument in his mind. He supposed he should shut the school, but he was hesitant. Whoever was hiding in the Room of Requirement had done nothing extremely dangerous so far. He had no solid evidence to prove that there truly _was_ someone in the Room of Requirement, just suspicions, and the word of a little girl. He doubted if the governors would let him close the school with the concerns he had; they sounded very far fetched. _

_He had initially convinced himself to allow Hogwarts to remain open because they had Dragana, Neville and later, Malfoy to keep everyone safe. However, Dragana had disappeared; now, there were only two people in Hogwarts who he could truly rely on. _

* * *

><p>Scorpius opened up his beautiful mahogany wardrobe and rifled through his clothes. Some of his father's old friends were coming for tea, and although he and Albus weren't required to attend, they still had to look respectable. After all, Scorpius was a pure-blooded Malfoy, the heir of a grand estate and millions of galleons. His father would expect him to dress accordingly. It wouldn't do to be seen in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. He had attended far too many of their little 'get-togethers' to keep count, and usually he had the misfortune of having to spend hours in their company. At least this time he didn't have to stay in the company of all the old Slytherin pals alone for long. In this, Albus's presence at the mansion was a double blessing; Both Albus and himself could escape after a measly five minutes on account of having to give a grand tour of the manor to his guest.<p>

"Will this be okay, Scorpius?" a small voice said from the doorway. Scorpius turned and saw that Albus had changed into a blue shirt and black trousers. His usually messy black hair had been flattened and his pale skin was slightly red from the ferocious scrubbing it had received in the shower. Scorpius nodded.

"Yeah, that should be fine." Albus came into the room and sat on Scorpius's bed. Scorpius unhooked a grey silk shirt from its hanger and pulled it on. He then attacked his blonde hair with a comb, trying to make it lie flat like his father's did. He wetted the comb with water from a glass standing on the side, and his hair instantly slicked back.

"Wow! You look just like your dad with your hair like that!" Albus said, his green eyes widening. Scorpius let out a forced, bark like laugh.

"Gee. Thanks."

"What time do we have to go and see your dad's old friends?" Albus asked.

Scorpius looked at the old clock hanging on the wall beside his bed. "Erm, in about five minutes."

Albus leant to one side to check his reflection in the mirror. He grimaced. Scorpius had never seen Albus look so smart, yet so uncomfortable in his clothes. "Remind me who'll be there again?"

Scorpius thought for a moment. "Most probably Mr and Mrs Flint, Mr and Mrs Montague, Mr and Mrs Goyle, Mr and Mrs Pucey, Mr Zabini and my Uncle Theo and Aunt Daphne. I think. There may be a few more." Albus nodded glumly and looked out the window.

"There's no chance I'm going to remember all of them," Albus confessed, "I'm really bad at names."

"Don't worry; we're only going to have to be there for a couple of minutes," Scorpius said, brushing a bit of dirt off his crisp black trousers, "It won't be like at your house when you have big gatherings, it'll be really formal." Scorpius looked over at Albus and saw his face fall.

"That makes me feel so much better," Albus joked, and Scorpius laughed.

"It should. It means you won't have to make friends with all of them. And I think they won't bring their children."

"Good." Albus smiled and looked at the clock again, "Should we go down? I hate being late. I don't want to get on the wrong side of your dad."

Scorpius nodded glumly, "I suppose we have to. Just follow my lead. It's likely father will just introduce us to his friends and then send us away. It'll be fine, don't look so worried!"

The two friends made their way through Malfoy Manor and trumped down the stairs into the entrance hall. Draco and his wife Astoria were standing next to the fireplace, Astoria was straightening Draco's robes. His face was lined with worry and he was muttering to Astoria.

"…And if I mess this evening up, all the work I've been doing with – oh, hello," Draco said, looking up at the two boys.

"That's perfect," Astoria simpered, checking Scorpius and Albus over as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Astoria herself was wearing a dress similar to the one she had worn when the Potter's came over, but this one was even fancier. Draco too looked ridiculously smart, his robes a dark green, the colour of fir trees. Scorpius winced as his mother smoothed his hair and straightened his collar. She seemed far too worried to stand still.

"Scorpius, Albus, you need only stay for a few minutes. Lulu the house-elf has cooked you something separate for your dinner, so after the guests have arrived, you can go into the kitchen and eat. Your father and I will be dining in the blue-room," Astoria said. Draco nodded stiffly.

"And we'd like some privacy, so try and keep yourselves to the top floor. Scorpius, I'm talking to you here," Draco said, and patted Scorpius affectionately on the shoulder. Scorpius glowered at his father, a small smile playing about his lips. He was certain Draco was remembering the time that he and his cousin had tried to pull a prank on Draco and Theodore, and let off a dung-bomb or two. Or three.

"Am I missing a joke here?" Albus muttered to Scorpius. Astoria and Draco didn't hear him.

"Yeah, tell you later," Scorpius said under his breath.

The first guests arrived at six on the dot, and Scorpius's parents greeted Gregory and Pansy Goyle like dear old friends. Scorpius had known Gregory and Pansy since he was a child, but this didn't mean he liked them at all. They were both built like boulders, and both fairly ugly. Scorpius thought that Pansy looked like a Pug and Gregory like a baboon. He had always called the Goyles the 'Monkey-Dog Couple' in his mind. They behaved like animals too. They weren't discrete or polite like his parents, but had loud, booming voices and disgusting habits. They had passed these habits down onto their son Vincent, who picked his nose and burped even more than his father did. Scorpius was silently thankful that they had not brought Vincent tonight, but that was only a small mercy. Scorpius supposed that he would have to put up with him next year, for Vincent was a year younger than him and coming to Hogwarts in September.

When they introduced Albus to the Monkey-Dog Couple, Scorpius noticed that Pansy gave Draco a quizzical, almost angry look. Scorpius had expected that Pansy would be shocked that Draco had let a Potter into his house of residence, and this made Scorpius feel rather angry. But thankfully, they behaved quite civilly, not letting on their distaste at Albus's presence. They proceeded into the drawing room, where Lulu had poured them all drinks.

As the other guests arrived, Scorpius noticed that they all acted the same way when Albus was introduced. Each of them gave a shocked glance towards Draco, but each of them also tried to disguise their dislike. This was, until Uncle Theo and Aunt Daphne arrived. They entered the hall, shaking off their travelling cloaks, two huge identical smiles on their faces.

Uncle Theo was a kind man. He was skeletal and puny and Scorpius had always thought that his body looked like it was made out of drinking straws. Despite his apparent weak appearance, he had a strong smile. He had short brown hair and twinkling brown eyes, which were always lit up. His wife, Daphne, was obviously far more attractive than her husband, but she was completely besotted with him. She looked like a slightly softer version of her sister. Her hair wasn't as curly, her eyes weren't as dark, her skin wasn't as pale, but the resemblance to her sister, Astoria was uncanny.

"Draco! Good to see you!" Daphne squealed, giving her brother-in-law a hug. Draco laughed, hugging back. Daphne too had the same demeanour as a great lady, but she was always relaxed around her family. Uncle Theo's lips broke into their familiar smile, and he grinned slyly at Scorpius. Under the cover of Draco greeting Daphne, Uncle Theo slipped something into Scorpius's hand.

"These are from Kieran," Uncle Theo whispered. Scorpius had been passed a brown paper bag, and looking inside it, saw it was full of dung-bombs. He smiled wickedly at his uncle, and permitted Aunt Daphne to kiss him on the cheek.

"And who is this?" she asked, looking over at Albus.

"Oh, this is my best friend, Albus Potter. He's staying with us for a while," Scorpius explained. Albus's cheeks coloured slightly, as they had been doing all evening, and he looked up at Aunt Daphne. Scorpius expected the angry glare at Draco, and the civil voice, but he was delightfully mistaken; Aunt Daphne didn't bat an eyelid.

"Good to meet you," Uncle Theo said, clasping Albus's hand. Albus blinked at the kind reception and smiled.

"Thanks, err…" Albus said, looking over at Scorpius.

"Oh, this is my Uncle Theo and Aunt Daphne," Scorpius said, laughing.

"Oh right, I should have known," Albus said.

"Shall we precede into the drawing room, my dear?" Draco said, offering his arm to his wife, a twinkle in his eye. Astoria smiled and took it.

"You two can go into the kitchen now for your meal, if you want," Astoria said to Scorpius and Albus. Scorpius smiled and Uncle Theo winked.

"They won't be joining us?" Daphne asked, walking along side her sister as they left the entrance hall.

"No, they don't want to," Draco explained.

"Don't blame you," Uncle Theo muttered to Scorpius, but hastened to catch up with his wife, leaving Scorpius and Albus alone in the entrance hall.

Scorpius let out a huge sigh and closed his eyes. Finally, after ten long minutes, they were free!

* * *

><p>"What do you want to do now?" Scorpius asked when their plates had been cleared. Albus looked up at him, and shrugged.<p>

"Wizard's chess?" Albus suggested. Scorpius sighed.

"I can only beat you so many times before it becomes boringly repetitive."

"Hey! I beat you the last time!" Albus said, and hit Scorpius with his fork. Scorpius laughed.

"I suppose you did. But that's three-one to me, so I think we can clearly see who's the best here," Scorpius boasted.

"Let me go and get my Gobstones set from the drawing room, I think I left it in there," Albus said, and Scorpius agreed.

Albus left the kitchen, promising to meet Scorpius in his bedroom, and tiptoed through the manor. He was now vaguely familiar to him with the layout of the manor, seeing as he had been there for three days now, but he could still get lost easily. He knew the west wing of the manor, the wing in which the family lived, but he had no idea how to get around the deserted – and much larger – east wing. In fact, he had never stepped foot in that area of the house, under Scorpius's advice. The rooms were largely empty, apparently, and full of doxies and boggarts.

Albus hesitated before pushing open the door to the drawing room. He and Scorpius had been told by Draco not to interrupt the adults, but that was only forty minutes ago. He could assume that they had begun their meal now. Albus went over to the dining room door to check, and sure enough, he could hear the low murmur of voices.

Albus went back to the drawing room and pushed open the door, just a crack, just to make sure that it was empty. To his horror, he heard a low, grunting voice speaking. Albus daren't shut the door again – that would only alert the adults to his presence. He decided to wait until they too had gone into the dining room, so he stood awkwardly, his foot against the door, waiting.

"…And, did you know, Cassandra has owled me again," the grunting voice said. Albus tried not to eavesdrop on the conversation, but he couldn't help it. The words drifted out, and Albus heard another voice speaking, this one was wheezy and high pitched.

"Cassandra? As in, Cassandra Spion? She has owled me too." Albus felt interest pricking his ears and quieting his breaths, but he fought down the urge to speculate why the two men were talking about his potion's master.

"Yes… she has been getting in contact with all of the old Death Eaters. She contacted Pucey the other day, and he told me that she suggested that the time for a renewal of the old ways was imminent," the grunting voice said. Albus tried to decode this strange sentence. '_renewal of the old ways'?_

Albus heard a female voice calling, "You two, come on, your soup is getting cold!"

"She's right, let's go," the grunt said, and Albus heard heavy footfalls, signifying that the two men were leaving the room empty.

Albus stood in the doorway, breathless, lost for words. His mind was reeling, and all he could think was that he needed to tell to Scorpius right away.

* * *

><p>"And then they went into the dining room, and I got my Gobstones," Albus finished, panting, lifting up the box of marble-like balls. Scorpius's eyes had gotten wider and wider as Albus recounted his tale, and now they were the size of galleons.<p>

"Professor Spion has been in contact with Death Eaters?" Scorpius said, his voice full of shock. Albus nodded frantically and sat down on the bed. Scorpius continued to stare at Albus, looking flabbergasted.

"Who do you think it was who I heard?" Albus asked, "One had a really low pitched voice, sort of like a grunt, and the other was wheezy and sounded like he was from the north."

Scorpius looked around the room as he thought, as though his belongings would give him the answer. Albus waited patiently, and Scorpius finally voiced his idea. "Mr Flint is from the north, so it was probably him who was wheezing. The other could have been Mr Montague, but it might have been Mr Goyle. I don't know though…" Scorpius worriedly bit his lip.

"I should tell my dad," Albus said, jumping to his feet. Scorpius suddenly looked relieved, his eyes returning to their normal size. He sighed and grinned.

"Yeah, Mr Potter will know what to do," Scorpius said, happily. He watched over Albus's shoulder as he wrote a hurried letter, explaining the conversation and what Scorpius thought of it.

"I hope that's okay," Albus said, reading over the letter. He attached the parchment to his owl, Titus, and after an affectionate nip, he flew out of the window. The two boys watched the black and white bird spread its wings, and disappear into the night.

"So, how about that game of Gobstones?" Scorpius asked after a moment, shattering the silence. Albus nodded, and sat down on the floor.

He tried to push all of what he had heard out of his mind, but he couldn't help but speculate.

_'A renewal of the old ways.'_

This couldn't be good.

* * *

><p><strong>I'm so sorry I haven't updated in...what, three weeks? Are you furious with me? You should be. I'm disgusted with myself. I promised you all that I'd update more often, and then I go and do this to you all. I can only hope you accept my most humble apologies.<strong>

**And I've got a brand new, shiny beta reader! Cintasia, thank you so much, I am absolutely brimming with gratitude. You've made my work so much better :)**

**Thanks for reading, and please review. It's been ages since I've had one, but I suppose I've got only myself to blame. Tell me what you think!**

**Jennifer Apple **


	16. Possible Rewriting?

Very long time, no update from me...

And I'm really sorry about that.

Lots of things have changed since I last wrote about Albus, Scorpius and Rose. Can it really have been over two years?

And just thinking about that made me want to return to the world of Fanfiction... and my favourite trio...

So I thought that you should know, those people who still follow and have reviewed the story recently, that I am officially redrafting the story. Removing those little annoyances which made me stop enjoying writing (I am a perfectionist!) The fact that they were in their first year, for instance. The identity of the attacker (who you never found out!) All of it was messy, and I can't see a way to right it without rewriting!

...that's all I have to say.

Lots of love, Jen


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